Alcedo is a genus of birds in the kingfisher subfamily Alcedininae. The genus was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species is the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). Alcedo is the Latin for "kingfisher".
Species The genus contains the following eight species: Image Scientific name Common name DistributionAlcedo coerulescensCerulean kingfisher Indonesia.Alcedo euryzona Javan blue-banded kingfisher JavaAlcedo peninsulae Malaysian blue-banded kingfisher Myanmar, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, southwestern Thailand and BorneoAlcedo quadribrachys Shining-blue kingfisher Senegal and Gambia to west central Nigeria to Kenya, northwest Zambia and north AngolaAlcedo menintingBlue-eared kingfisher Indian subcontinent and Southeast AsiaAlcedo atthis Common kingfisher across Eurasia and North AfricaAlcedo semitorquata Half-collared kingfisher southern and eastern Africa.Alcedo herculesBlyth's kingfisher China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Bhutan in northeastern India, and a vagrant in Bangladesh and eastern Nepal
Unlike many kingfishers, all members of Alcedo are specialist fish-eaters. They all have some blue feathers on their upper-parts and most species have a black bill. Except for the cerulean kingfisher they all have some rufous in their plumage. The female generally has more red on the lower mandible than the male. The smallest species is the cerulean kingfisher which is around in length; much the largest is Blyth's kingfisher with a length of .
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