Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca) [XC132011]
by Arend Wassink from Thane, Thane, Maharashtra, India (call)
Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca) [XC266108]
by Mike Nelson from Belian Camp, Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia (flight call)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with North Philippine Dwarf-Kingfisher (Ceyx melanurus). Distinctive rufous-backed form was, in past, widely considered a separate species, "Ceyx rufidorsa". This view was supported by the situation north of Kuala Lumpur (central Peninsular Malaysia), where there is little hybridization between rufous-backed and black-backed morphs and only the latter is migratory. On other hand, considerable hybridization occurs in Borneo, and also in Sumatra and southern Peninsular Malaysia, with a wide range of intermediates, strongly suggesting that the two forms are merely morphs of a single species.
Population on Sumatran islands of Simeulue and Batu sometimes separated as subspecies jungei and that on Nias as subspecies captus, but both now seem better placed within nominate. Birds of Mindoro have at times been further separated as subspecies vargasi.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
erithaca (Linnaeus, 1758) - South-western India (southern from Bombay) south to Sri Lanka, and from Bhutan east to southern China (Yunnan, Hainan) and south to Sumatra and adjacent islands.
macrocarus Oberholser, 1917 - Andaman Is, Nicobar Is, and islands off western Sumatra (Simeulue, Nias, Batu).
motleyi Chasen & Kloss, 1929 - North-central and western Philippines (Mindoro and Panay to Palawan) and south to Borneo and Java, then east to Sumbawa and Flores. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Rufous-backed Kingfisher (Ceyx rufidorsa).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet