Green-and-rufous Kingfisher (Chloroceryle inda)

Identification & Behavior: ~22.3 (8 in). Males and females Green and Rufous Kingfisher have deep glossy green upperparts, white specks on wings, and a broad light rufous neck collar. The underparts in both sexes are solid rufous, but females have a speckled white-and-green band across the breast.  The Green and Rufous Kingfisher is distinguished from the similar American Pygmy Kingfisher by larger size and a solid rufous belly (The Pygmy Kingfisher has a white center of the belly).

Status: The Green and Rufous Kingfisher is associated to smaller rivers and bodies of wáter with extensive vegetation along the edges. It perches inside vegetation in darker conditions than other kingfishers. It is uncommon to rare throughout Amazonia below 1000 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Martín Pescador Verde y Rufo.

Sub-species: Green-and-rufous Kingfisher (Chloroceryle inda) (Linnaeus, 1766).

Meaning of Name: Chloroceryle: Gr. Kloros=green, ceryle (kerulos)= a mythological bird mentioned by Aristotle. inda: from India, in reference to the fact that early Europeans called India the newly discovered Caribbean region now known as the West Indies. A kingfisher from the West Indies.

See more of the Family Alcedinidae