Subspecies
Form from northern Malay Peninsula, described as subspecies deignani, is an intergrade between amabilis and pulchella.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
amabilis (Hume, 1873) - Southern and south-eastern Myanmar east to central Vietnam (central Annam) and south to southern Thailand and southern Indochina.
pulchella (Horsfield, 1821) - Southern Thailand south to northern Natuna Is and Sumatra (including Riau Archipelago), and east to Java.
melanops (Bonaparte, 1850) - Bangka I (off south-eastern Sumatra) and Borneo. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black-faced Kingfisher (Lacedo melanops).
deignani Meyer de Schauensee, 1946 - Southern Thailand.