Other Scientific Names
Alcedo azurea [Latham, 1801], Ceyx azureus [Christidis and Boles (2008)]
Other Names (World)
Azure Kingfisher, Blue Kingfisher, Purple Kingfisher, Creek Kingfisher, Victorian Blue Kingfisher, River Kingfisher(!), Water Kingfisher
Derivation
Alcedo - L., kingfisher: az-ür'-e-a - L., blue
Habitat
Vegetation at edges of wetlands, well-vegetated freshwater or tidal rivers and creeks, especially with still or slowly flowing waters, billbongs, lakes, swamps, lagoons and dams. From sea-level - 1,250 m.
Azure Kingfisher (Ceyx azureus) [XC749873]
by id from Lee Point, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (call)
Azure Kingfisher (Ceyx azureus) [XC154548]
by Marc Anderson from Daintree, Queensland, Australia (call)
Nest
In a chamber at the end of a tunnel in a bank of a stream.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 7; lustrous white; rounded; about 23 x 19 mm. Incubation: 20 - 22 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 3 - 4 weeks.
Subspecies
Sometimes placed in genus Alcyone, or in Ceyx. Forms a superspecies with Shining-blue Kingfisher (Alcedo quadribrachys) and Bismarck Kingfisher (Ceyx websteri), and possibly also Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting). In past, subspecies ruficollaris inexplicably and erroneously listed under Todiramphus sanctus. Subspecies yamdenae sometimes included in ruficollaris. Birds from Aru Is formerly separated from lessonii as subspecies wallaceana.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
azurea (Latham, 1801) - North-eastern Qld south to Vic. and coastal SA.
ruficollaris (Bankier, 1841) - Northern Australia from the Kimberley Divide to Cape York Peninsula.
diemenensis (Gould, 1846) - Tasmania.
lessonii (Cassin, 1850) - Aru Island, West Papuan islands, Fergusson Island, D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago and lowlands of southern New Guinea.
wallaceanus (Mathews, 1918) - Aru Islands.
ochrogaster (Reichenow, 1903) - Northern New Guinea east to Astrolabe Bay and islands in Geelvink Bay.
affinis (Gray, GR, 1861) - Halmahera and Batjan in northern Moluccas.
yamdenae (Rothschild, 1901) - Romang (eastern Lesser Sundas) and Tanimbar Is.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet