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Chloroceryle americana

(Gmelin, 1788)

Green Kingfisher

G5Secure Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100200
Element CodeABNXD02020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderCoraciiformes
FamilyAlcedinidae
GenusChloroceryle
Other Common Names
Martim-Pescador-Pequeno (PT) Martin-pêcheur vert (FR) Martín-Pescador Verde, Martín Pescador Chico (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
See Fry and Fry (1992) for a brief summary of the characteristics of the five subspecies.
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-02
Change Date1996-12-02
Range Extent Comments
Resident from northern Mexico and central Texas south through Central America, Trinidad, and Tobago to South America (northern Chile and the Mendoza and Buenos Aires regions of central Argentina). Rare straggler in southern Arizona in winter (NGS 1983). To 1500 m in Colombia, 2500 m in Costa Rica, and 2800 m in Mexico (Fry and Fry 1992). See Fry and Fry (1992) for information on the ranges of the five subspecies.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Almost all open freshwater and brackish habitats; shaded rivulets, muddy puddles in dried-out arroyos, deep turbid rivers, flooded scrub forest, dark pools in evergreen forest, coastal lagoons, coastal lagoons, mangroves, marshes, small rocky watercourses, and choked drainage canals (Fry and Fry 1992). Streams, rivers, lakes, marshes, swamps, mangroves, and rarely rocky seacoasts (AOU 1983). Colombia: fairly common along medium-sized to small streams and edges of lakes and ponds bordered by shrubs and trees; usually not along streams with closed canopy overhead; also mangroves and small numbers along bouldery mountain streams (Hilty and Brown 1986). In Colombia and Bolivia, frequents primarily open habitat along the edges of lakes and streams (Remson 1990). Nests in horizontal burrow dug in bank of stream; entrance usually well hidden and near top of bank.

Ecology

Usually solitary or in pairs. Strongly territorial.

Reproduction

Known egg laying months include April in Texas and Costa Rica, March and probably January to May in Mexico, November-February in Panama, November in Argentina (Fry and Fry 1992). Clutch size is 3-6 (commonly 5). Incubation, by both sexes (female at night, alternating in daytime), lasts 19-21 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest at 22-26 days (also reported as 27 days), independent after additional 4 weeks.
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN4
ProvinceRankNative
ArizonaS2Yes
TexasS4BYes
Roadless Areas (1)
Arizona (1)
AreaForestAcres
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
References (22)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Bent, A.C. 1940. Life histories of North American cuckoos, goatsuckers, hummingbirds, and their allies. Part I. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 176. 244 pp.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Braun, M. J., D. W. Finch, M. B. Robbins, and B. K. Schmidt. 2000. A field checklist of the birds of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  6. Cornwell, G. W. 1963. Observation on the breeding biology and behavior of a nesting population of belted kingfishers. Condor 65:426-431.
  7. Forshaw, J. M., and W. T. Cooper. 1983. Kingfishers and related birds. Vol. 1. Alcedinidae, Ceryle to Cittura. Landsdowne Editions, Sydney.
  8. Fry, C. H., and K. Fry. 1992. Kingfishers, bee-eaters & rollers: a handbook. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 324 pp. [344 pp.?]
  9. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  10. Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
  11. Hilty, S.L. and W. L. Brown. 1986. A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. 836 pp.
  12. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  13. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  14. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  15. Remson, J. V. 1990. Community ecology of neotropical kingfishers. Univ. California Publ. Zool. 124.
  16. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  17. Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
  18. Salyer, J. C., II, and K. F. Lagler. 1946. The eastern belted kingfisher, MEGACERYLE ALCYON ALCYON (Linneaus), in relation to fish management. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 76:97-117.
  19. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  20. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  21. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  22. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.