- Chloroceryle aenea
Identification
13 cm (5 in)
- Oily green upperparts
- Yellow-orange collar
- Rufous underparts
- White belly
Female: has a narrow green breast band
Young birds resemble the adults, but have paler rufous underparts, no breast band, and speckled wings and flanks.
Distribution
Central and South America
Central America: Mexico, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
Taxonomy
Subspecies
This is a polytipic species consisting of 2 subspecies[1]:
- C. a. stictoptera :
- Southern Mexico and Yucatán Peninsula to northern Costa Rica
- C. a. aenea:
- Central Costa Rica to northern Bolivia, Guianas and Brazil; Trinidad
Habitat
Small woodland streams, rivers and pools. Also in mangroves and wetlands
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of small fish, tadpoles and small frogs. They will also eat some insects such as damselflies.
Breeding
The unlined nest is in a horizontal tunnel usually into a river bank; sometimes into an earth mound or termite nest. Three or four white eggs are laid.
Vocalisation
Call: a weak tik or stony cht cht.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Woodall, P.F. (2019). American Pygmy-kingfisher (Chloroceryle aenea). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/55804 on 2 August 2019).
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) American Pygmy Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/American_Pygmy_Kingfisher
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
