Classification
& Description of KINGFISHER
Kingfishers are small unmistakable bright blue and orange birds
of slow moving or still water. They fly rapidly, low over water, and hunt fish
from riverside perches, occasionally hovering above the water's surface. They
are a vulnerable to hard winters and habitat degradation through pollution or
unsympathetic management of watercourses. Kingfishers are amber listed because
of their unfavourable conservation status in Europe.
Scientific
classification :
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum :
Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Coraciiformes
Suborder :
Alcedines
Families :
1.Alcedinidae
2. Halcyonidae
3. Cerylidae
Kingfishers are a group
of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the
order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most
species being found in the Old World and Australasia. The group
is treated either as a single family, Alcedinidae, or as a
suborder Alcedines containing three families, Alcedinidae (river
kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water
kingfishers). There are roughly 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads,
long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have
bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most
species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in
forests. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish, usually caught by
swooping down from a perch. Like other members of their order they nest in
cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the
ground. A few species, principally insular forms, are threatened with
extinction. In Britain, the word 'kingfisher' normally refers to
the Common Kingfisher.
DESCRIPTION
:
The smallest species of kingfisher
is the African Dwarf Kingfisher (Ispidina lecontei), which averages at
10.4 g and 10 cm (4 inches). The largest overall is
the Giant Kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima), at an average of 355 g
(13.5 oz) and 45 cm (18 inches). However, the familiar Australian kingfisher
known as the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) may be the
heaviest species, since large individuals exceeding 450 g are not rare.
The plumage of most
kingfishers is bright, with green and blue being the most common colours. The brightness
of the colours is neither the product of iridescence (except in the American
kingfishers) or pigments, but is instead caused by the structure of the
feathers, which causes scattering of blue light (the Tyndall effect).In
most species there are no differences between the sexes; when there are
differences they are quite small (less than 10%).
The kingfishers have a long,
dagger-like bill. The bill is usually longer and more compressed in species
that hunt fish, and shorter and more broad in species that hunt prey off the
ground. The largest and most atypical bill is that of the Shovel-billed
Kookaburra, which is used to dig through the forest floor in search of prey.
They generally have short legs, although species that feed on the ground have
longer tarsi. Most species have four toes, three of which are forward pointing.
The irises of most species are
dark brown. The kingfishers have excellent vision; they are capable of
binocular vision and are thought in particular to have good colour vision. They
have restricted movement of their eyes within the eye sockets, instead using
head movements in order to track prey. In addition they are able to compensate
for the refraction of water and reflection when hunting prey underwater, and
are able to judge depth underwater accurately. They also have nictitating
membranes that cover the eyes when they hit the water in order to protect them;
the Pied Kingfisher has a bony plate which slides across the eye when
it hits the water.
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