420 



Order CORACIIFORMES 

 Family ALCEDINIDAE : Kingfishers ; Martin Pescadores 



Kingfishers are distributed through the temperate and tropical 

 regions of the world, absent only on some of the more isolated 

 oceanic islands. A majority of the more than 85 living species belong 

 in the subfamily Daceloninae, the forest kingfishers, not found in 

 the Americas but widely distributed elsewhere. While some of these 

 range in swampy areas, others live in forests or open lands away 

 from streams or other bodies of water. 



The six distinct kinds of the family found in the New World, 

 all represented in Panama, are dependent on water, either in streams 

 or swamps where they live mainly on fish captured by diving, with 

 the addition of crabs and other crustaceans. Most nest in burrows 

 dug in earthen banks, in termite nests, or in the trunks or limbs of 

 trees. No nesting material is used for the eggs which are white, or 

 faintly buff. The young are entirely naked when hatched. Some of the 

 Old World species are quite brightly colored in contrast to the 

 plainer markings of those that range in the Americas. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF ALCEDINIDAE 



1. Upper surface of body mainly gray 2 



Upper surface dark green to greenish black 3 



2. Large; wing more than 180 mm., culmen from base more than 75 mm., lower 



breast rufous-brown. 



Ringed kingfisher, Ceryle torquata torquata, p. 421 

 Smaller; wing less than 170 mm., culmen from base less than 65 mm., lower 

 breast white centrally. 



Belted kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon, p. 424 



3. Throat white, or pale buffy white ; sides and under wing coverts white, or 



white spotted or lined with greenish black 4 



Throat, foreneck, and sides rufous to chestnut 5 



4. Larger ; wing 130 mm. or more, culmen from base more than 65 mm. 



Amazon kingfisher, Chloroccryle amazona mexicana, p. 425 

 Smaller ; wing less than 90 mm., culmen from base less than 55 mm. 



Green kingfisher, Chloroceryle americana isthmica, p. 428 



5. Larger ; wing 90 mm. or more ; entire under surface rufous to chestnut. 



Green-and-rufous kingfisher, Chloroceryle inda chocoensis, p. 432 



Small ; wing less than 65 mm., center of breast and under tail coverts white. 



Pygmy kingfisher, Chloroceryle atnea, p. 435 



