Halcyon () is a genus of the tree kingfishers, birds in the subfamily Halcyoninae.
Taxonomy The genus Halcyon was introduced by the English naturalist and artist William Swainson in 1821. He named the type species as the woodland kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis).
"Halcyon" is a name for a bird in Greek legend generally associated with the kingfisher. There was an ancient belief that the bird nested on the sea, which it calmed in order to lay its eggs on a floating nest. Two weeks of calm weather were therefore expected around the winter solstice. This myth leads to the use of halcyon as a term for peace or calmness.
The genus contains 12 species:
Image Scientific name Common name DistributionHalcyon coromanda Ruddy kingfishereast and southeast Asia. Halcyon smyrnensisWhite-throated kingfisher from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to China and Taiwan.Halcyon gularisBrown-breasted kingfisher the Philippines Halcyon cyanoventrisJavan kingfisher Java and BaliHalcyon badiaChocolate-backed kingfisher western Sub-Saharan Africa. Halcyon pileataBlack-capped kingfisher India east to China, Korea and Southeast AsiaHalcyon leucocephalaGrey-headed kingfisher Cape Verde Islands off the north-west coast of Africa to Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia and southern Arabia and south to South Africa.Halcyon albiventrisBrown-hooded kingfisher Sub-Saharan AfricaHalcyon chelicutiStriped kingfisher Sub-Saharan AfricaHalcyon malimbicaBlue-breasted kingfisher Equatorial AfricaHalcyon senegalensisWoodland kingfisher Africa south of the Sahara. Halcyon senegaloides Mangrove kingfisher Somalia, south through Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, to South Africa
However, other sources, including Fry & Fry, lump the genera Pelargopsis, Syma and Todirhamphus into Halcyon to make a much larger grouping.
Geographic distribution The genus Halcyon in the current sense consists mainly of species resident in sub-Saharan Africa, with a couple of representatives in southern Asia, one of which, the white-throated kingfisher, occasionally reaches Europe. White-throated and ruddy kingfishers are at least partially migratory.
Habitat Halcyon kingfishers are mostly large birds with heavy bills. They occur in a variety of habitats, with woodland of various types the preferred environment for most. They are "sit and wait" predators of small ground animals including large insects, rodents, snakes, and frogs, but some will also take fish.
References
Sources Fry, K & Fry, H.C. (2000): Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. .
External links