Society kingfisher
illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Halcyoninae
Genus: Todiramphus
Species:
T. veneratus
Binomial name
Todiramphus veneratus
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)

The Society kingfisher or Tahiti kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus) is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

Taxonomy

The Society kingfisher was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other kingfishers in the genus Alcedo and coined the binomial name Alcedo venerata.[2] Gmelin based his description on the "venerated kingsfisher" that had been described in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had access to a specimen in the Leverian Museum which he erroneously believed had come from the "Friendly Islands", now Tonga in western Polynesia. Latham noted that the Polynesians revered and protected kingfishers.[3] The specimen would have been collected during either James Cook's second or third voyages to the Pacific Ocean.[4] Three water-colour drawings survive from Cook's voyages that are believed to depict the Society kingfisher: one by the naturalist Georg Forster painted on Cook's second voyage, one by William Wade Ellis painted on Cook's third voyage and one by the artist John Webber that was also painted on the third voyage.[4][5]

The Society kingfisher is now one of 30 species placed in the genus Todiramphus that was introduced in 1827 by René Lesson.[6][7] The word Todiramphus combines the genus name Todus with the Ancient Greek rhamphos meaning "bill". The specific epithet veneratus is Latin meaning "venerated".[8]

Two subspecies are recognised:[7]

Description

The Society kingfisher is around 21 cm (8.3 in) in overall length. The male of the nominate subspecies on Tahiti has dull olive upperparts with a brownish blue-green head and an aquamarine area behind the eye and on the ear coverts. The underparts are white with a variable broad rusty chest-band. The female on Tahiti is dusky brown above and has a prominent brown breast-band. The male of T. v. youngi on Moorea is pale brown above.[9]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2022). "Todiramphus veneratus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T22726919A216648579. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  2. ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 453.
  3. ^ Latham, John (1782). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 1, Part 2. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. pp. 623–624.
  4. ^ a b Jansen, Justin; van der Vliet, Roland (2015). "The chequered history of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus tutus on Tahiti 1: type specimens" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 135: 108–120.
  5. ^ Lysaght, Averil (1959). "Some eighteenth century bird paintings in the library of Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820)". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Historical Series. 1 (6): 286-287. No. 58, 326, No. 23, 343, No. 135. doi:10.5962/p.92313.
  6. ^ Lesson, René (1827). "Description d'un nouveau genre d'oiseau. Todirhamphe, Todiramphus". Bulletin des sciences naturelles et de géologie (in French). 12: 268–271 [269].
  7. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (August 2022). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  8. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 387, 399. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. ^ Fry, C. Hilary; Fry, Kathie; Harris, Alan (1992). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 192–193, Plate19. ISBN 978-0-7136-8028-7.


Categories