Ispidina Explained
Ispidina is a genus of small insectivorous African river kingfishers.
The genus was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848 with the African pygmy kingfisher (Ispidina picta) as the type species.[1] [2] The genus is the sister group to the genus Corythornis containing four small African kingfishers.[3]
Species
The two species in the genus are:[4]
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|
| Ispidina picta | African pygmy kingfisher | Africa south of the Sahara |
| Ispidina lecontei | African dwarf kingfisher | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Uganda. |
|
These similar small kingfishers can be distinguished by the blue crown of the African pigmy kingfisher. They have different habit preferences and have mostly non-overlapping ranges. The slightly smaller African dwarf kingfisher occurs in tropical rainforests while the African pygmy kingfisher occurs in dry grassy woodland.[5]
Notes and References
- Kaup . Johann Jakob . Johann Jakob Kaup . 1848 . Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae) . Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung . 2 . 71–72 . 183221382 . German .
- Book: Peters . James Lee . James L. Peters . 1945 . Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5 . Harvard University Press . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 177 .
- Andersen . M.J. . McCullough . J.M. . Mauck III . W.M. . Smith . B.T. . Moyle . R.G. . 2017 . A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands . Journal of Biogeography . 44 . 2 . 269–281 . 10.1111/jbi.13139 . 90416559 .
- Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . 2016 . Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers . World Bird List Version 6.3 . International Ornithologists' Union . 25 September 2016 .
- Book: Fry . C. Hilary. Fry . Kathie. Harris . Alan . 1992 . Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. Christopher Helm . London . 978-0-7136-8028-7 . 195–198 .
