Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis: Sarcopterygii
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Euornithes
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Ornithurae
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Coraciiformes
Familia: Alcedinidae
Subfamilia: Halcyoninae
Genus: Todiramphus
Species: Todiramphus sanctus
Subspecies: T. s. canacorum - T. s. macmillani T. s. norfolkiensis - T. s. sanctus - T. s. vagans
Name
Todiramphus sanctus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
Synonyms
Halcyon sancta Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Todirhamphus sanctus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
References
Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (1) 15(1826) p. 206
IUCN: Todiramphus sanctus (Vigors & Horsfeld, 1827) (Least Concern)
Vernacular names
čeština: Ledňáček posvátný
English: Sacred Kingfisher
español: Alción sagrado
polski: Łowiec czczony
The sacred kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) is a medium-sized woodland kingfisher that occurs in mangroves, woodlands, forests, and river valleys in Australia, New Zealand, and other parts of the western Pacific. In New Zealand the species is also known as kotare (from the Māori kōtare).[2]
It is called “sacred” for it was said to be a holy bird for Polynesians,[3] who believed it to have control over the waves.[4]
Taxonomy
The binomial name Halcyon sanctus was introduced by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827 who described a sacred kingfisher zoological specimen from New Holland, Australia.[5][6] Vigors and Horsfield compare it with Alcedo sacra described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788. Gmelin in turn based his description on John Latham's "Sacred King's Fisher" published in 1782.[7] Latham described several varieties, one of which was illustrated in Arthur Phillip's The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay published in 1789.[8] The genus Halcyon is now split and the sacred kingfisher placed in the genus Todiramphus that had been erected by the French surgeon and naturalist René Lesson in 1827.[9] The generic name is derived from the genus Todus (Brisson, 1760), 'tody' (a West Indian insectivorous bird) and Ancient Greek rhamphos, 'bill'. The specific epithet is the Latin sanctus 'sacred'.[10]
Five subspecies are recognised:[11]
T. s. sanctus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) – Australia to eastern Solomon Islands, New Guinea and Indonesia
T. s. vagans (Lesson, 1828) – New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Kermadec Islands
T. s. norfolkiensis (Tristram, 1885) – Norfolk Island
T. s. canacorum (Brasil, L, 1916) – New Caledonia
T. s. macmillani (Mayr, 1940) – Loyalty Islands
Holotype of Halcyon norfolkiensis Tristram (NML-VZ T6527) held at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool
The holotype of Halcyon norfolkiensis Tristram is an adult male held in the vertebrate zoology collection of National Museums Liverpool at World Museum, with accession number NML-VZ T6527.[12] The specimen was collected in Norfolk Island in October 1879 by E. L. Layard and came to the Liverpool national collection through the purchase of Canon Henry Baker Tristram's collection by the museum in 1896.[13]
Description
The sacred kingfisher is a medium-sized kingfisher, measuring 20–23 cm (7.9–9.1 in) long.[14] Males weigh 28–61 g (1.0–2.2 oz) and females 28–56 g (1.0–2.0 oz).[15] They are mostly blue-green to turquoise above, with white underparts and collar feathers, a black mask and buff lores.[14] Both sexes are similar, but females are usually greener, duller and less buff beneath.[14] Juveniles have buff or mottled brown edges on the collar, underparts and upper-wing coverts.[14]
Distribution and habitat
Sacred kingfishers are found in Australia, New Zealand, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, much of northern and western Melanesia, and the Kermadec Islands.[15][16] This species breeds throughout much of Australia (except the dry interior), New Zealand, New Caledonia and locally, New Guinea. Populations in the southern two-thirds of Australia migrate northwards at the end of the breeding season to New Guinea, east to the eastern Solomon Islands and west to Indonesia becoming uncommon to very sparse westwards to Sumatra. Birds move south again to Australia in August and September. It has also occurred as a vagrant on Christmas Island (in the Indian Ocean),[17] Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Nauru. A pair were spotted in Pampanga, Philippines in April / May 2016.
In Australia, it occurs in open eucalypt forests, melaleuca swamps, mangroves, mudflats, wetlands and river or lake margins, farmland, parks and gardens.[16] In New Zealand, T. sanctus vagans shows altitudinal migration, with post-breeding movement from higher altitudes to the coast and also from forest to coast and open lands.
Behaviour and ecology
Kingfishers feeding at Pauatahanui Inlet, New Zealand
Feeding
The sacred kingfisher feeds on a wide variety of invertebrates (particularly insects bugs and spiders), small crustaceans, fish (infrequently), frogs, small rodents and reptiles,[15] and there are a few reports of them eating finches and other small birds. Usually, the sacred kingfisher will sit on a low branch and wait for prey to pass by. It swoops down to grab the prey by briefly landing (sally-pounce) or hovering (sally-strike), and then returns to its perch to eat its catch by beating and swallowing.[15]
Breeding
The breeding season is from August to March (mostly September to January), often with two broods.[14] Once a pair of birds has mated, both members of the pair dig the nest; a burrow in a river bank, a hollow in a large branch or a termite mound are prime examples of nest location.[18] The female lays a clutch of 3 to 6 glossy white, rounded eggs, measuring 25 mm × 22 mm (0.98 in × 0.87 in), which are incubated for 17–18 days by both parents (mainly female).[14][15] Both parents (and possibly helpers) feed the nestlings for up to 4 weeks, and for a further 7–10 days after fledging.[15]
Conservation
The sacred kingfisher has a wide distribution and the population trend is increasing, and it is classed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.[1]
References
BirdLife International (2016). "Todiramphus sanctus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22683442A92986873. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683442A92986873.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
Heather, Barrie; Robertson, Hugh (2005). The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand (Revised ed.). Auckland: Viking. ISBN 0-14-302040-4.
Gray, J.; Fraser, I. (2013). Australian Bird Names: A Complete Guide. CSIRO Publishing. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-643-10471-6.
Higgins, P.J., ed. (1999). "Todiramphus sanctus Sacred Kingfisher" (PDF). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 4. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. pp. 1178–1201. ISBN 978-0-19-553071-1.
Vigors, N.A.; Horsfield, T. (1827). "Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (in English and Latin). 15 (1): 170–334 [206–208]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1826.tb00115.x. The title page is dated 1826.
Peters, J.L. (1945). "Halcyon sancta sancta Vigors and Horsfield". Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 205.
Latham, J. (1782). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. Volume 1, Part 2. London: Printed for Benj. White. p. 623, Variety D.
Phillip, Arthur (1789). The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island, etc. London: Printed for John Stockdale. p. 156.
Lesson, R. (1827). "Description d'un nouveau genre d'oiseau. Todirhamphe, Todiramphus". Bulletin des sciences naturelles et de géologie (in French). 12: 268–271 [269].
Jobling, J.A. (2010). "Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird-names". Retrieved 2020-06-29.
Gill, F.; Donsker, D., eds. (2017). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 7.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
"Vertebrate Zoology". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
Wagstaffe, R. (1978). Type Specimens of Birds in the Merseyside County Museums (formerly City of Liverpool Museums). Liverpool: Merseyside County Museums.
Morcombe, Michael (2012) Field Guide to Australian Birds. Pascal Press, Glebe, NSW. Revised edition. ISBN 978174021417-9
Woodall, P. F. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). "Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus), version 1.0." In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sackin1.01
Pizzey, Graham and Doyle, Roy. (1980) A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Collins Publishers, Sydney. ISBN 073222436-5
Reville, Barry J. (1993). A Visitor's Guide to the Birds of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean (2nd ed.). Christmas Island Natural History Association. ISBN 0-9591210-4-8.
BirdLife Australia. "Sacred Kingfisher". Retrieved 2020-07-04.
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