Ceyx (bird)

Ceyx
Oriental dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Alcedininae
Genus: Ceyx
Lacépède, 1799
Type species
Alcedo tridactyla[1]
Pallas, 1769
Species

see text

Ceyx (/ˈsiːɪks/ SEE-icks) is an Old World genus of river kingfishers.[2] These kingfishers are found from South East Asia to the Solomon Islands.

The genus was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799, and derives its name from the Greek myth of Alcyone and Ceyx.[3] The type species is the black-backed dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca).[4]

A molecular phylogenetic study of the alcedinine kingfishers published in 2007 found that the genera as then defined did not form monophyletic groups.[5] The species were subsequently rearranged into four monophyletic genera. The little kingfisher, azure kingfisher, Bismarck kingfisher, southern silvery kingfisher and Indigo-banded kingfisher were moved from Alcedo to Ceyx.[6] All except one of the birds in the reconstituted genus have three rather than the usual four toes. The exception is the Sulawesi dwarf kingfisher which retains a vestigial fourth toe.[5][7]

The Moluccan dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx lepidus) was previous named the variable dwarf kingfisher and included 15 recognised subspecies. A genetic study published in 2013 found that most of the subspecies had substantially diverged from one another.[8] The species was therefore split and 12 of the subspecies were promoted to species status. At the same time the name was changed from the variable dwarf kingfisher to the Moluccan dwarf kingfisher.[6]

The two African species in the genus Ispidina were sometimes placed in this genus.[9] Compared to the related species in the genus Alcedo they are more terrestrial.[10]

  1. ^ "Alcedinidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  2. ^ "Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words". Dictionary.com.
  3. ^ Lacépède, Bernard Germain de (1799). Discours d'ouverture du Cours d'histoire naturelle des animaux vertébrés et a sang rouge: Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-divisions, ordres et genres des oiseaux. Paris: Plassan. p. 10.
  4. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 178.
  5. ^ a b Moyle, R.G.; Fuchs, J.; Pasquet, E.; Marks, B.D. (2007). "Feeding behavior, toe count, and the phylogenetic relationships among alcedinine kingfishers (Alcedininae)". Journal of Avian Biology. 38 (3): 317–326. doi:10.1111/J.2007.0908-8857.03921.x.
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (December 2023). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  7. ^ Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 8–9.
  8. ^ Andersen, M.J.; Oliveros, C.H.; Filardi, C.E.; Moyle, R.G. (2013). "Phylogeography of the Variable Dwarf-Kingfisher Ceyx lepidus (Aves: Alcedinidae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences". Auk. 130 (1): 118–131. doi:10.1525/auk.2012.12102. hdl:1808/13331. S2CID 55352878.
  9. ^ Fry, Fry & Harris 1992, pp. 195–198.
  10. ^ Woodall, Peter (2001). "Family Alcedinidae (Kingfishers)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 6, Mousebirds to Hornbills. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 103–187. ISBN 978-84-87334-30-6.