White-bellied kingfisher

White-bellied kingfisher
Corythornis leucogaster bowdleri, Ghana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Alcedininae
Genus: Corythornis
Species:
C. leucogaster
Binomial name
Corythornis leucogaster
(Fraser, 1843)
Synonyms

Alcedo leucogaster

The white-bellied kingfisher (Corythornis leucogaster) is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Alcedininae that occurs in parts of equatorial west Africa. The first formal description of the species was by the British zoologist Louis Fraser in 1843 under the binomial name Halcyon leucogaster.[2][3]

There are three subspecies:[4]

  • Corythornis leucogaster bowdleri (Neumann, 1908) – Guinea to Mali and Ghana
  • Corythornis leucogaster leucogaster (Fraser, 1843) – Nigeria to north west Angola, Bioko Island
  • Corythornis leucogaster leopoldi (Dubois, AJC, 1905) – east Congo to south Uganda and northwest Zambia

The white-bellied kingfisher is 13 cm (5.1 in) in length with a weight of around 14.5 g (0.51 oz). It has ultramarine upperparts and a red bill. The underparts are rufous-chestnut apart from a central white band. The sexes are alike.[5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Corythornis leucogaster.
Wikispecies has information related to Corythornis leucogaster.
  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Corythornis leucogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22683112A92976229. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683112A92976229.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 176.
  3. ^ Fraser, Louis (1843). "Halcyon leucogaster". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 11 (120): 4.
  4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  5. ^ Fry, C. Hilary; Fry, Kathie; Harris, Alan (1992). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-0-7136-8028-7.


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