Striped kingfisher

Striped kingfisher
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Halcyoninae
Genus: Halcyon
Species:
H. chelicuti
Binomial name
Halcyon chelicuti
(Stanley, 1814)
Subspecies[2]
  • H. c. eremogiton - Hartert, 1921
  • H. c. chelicuti - (Stanley, 1814)
Juvenile H. c. chelicuti, Uganda
Holotype of Alaudo chelicuti Stanley (NML-VZ D2304b) held at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool
Striped Kingfisher (juv.) in The Gambia

The striped kingfisher (Halcyon chelicuti) is a species of bird in the tree kingfisher subfamily. It was first described by Edward, Lord Stanley, in Salt's Voyage to Abyssinia[3] in 1814 as "Chelicut kingfisher" Alaudo Chelicuti.[4]

The genus name Halcyon comes from a bird in Greek legend generally associated with the kingfisher. There was an ancient belief that the halcyon nested on the sea, which it calmed in order to lay its eggs on a floating nest.[5] The species' name chelicuti derives from Chelicut in Ethiopia, the location at which Stanley's type specimen was obtained.[6]

This is a highly territorial bird which will chase off not only others of the same species, but also shrikes, doves and rollers. The territory may be up to three hectares (7.4 acres) in size, and hold 100 tall trees. It is surveyed from a treetop by its owner, who sings from before dawn intermittently until after midday.[6]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Halcyon chelicuti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22683278A92982624. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683278A92982624.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
  3. ^ Salt (1816)
  4. ^ In the index on p432 the genus is given as Alcedo, but the description on p439 is headed, presumably in error, as Alaudo.
  5. ^ Halcyon days
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Fry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).