- Todiramphus gambieri
Identification
Buffy-cream head and neck, (may show a small blue patch on central crown), cream-white forehead and broad, buffy neck-band, dusky blue ear-coverts, white chin and underparts, often with buffy band across upper breast, blue mantle, back, rump, wings and tail.
Critically endangered.
Distribution
Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. Currently found on the island of Niau (northwestern Tuamotu) but formerly also on Mangareva island, (eastern Tuamotu) and probably islands in between.
Taxonomy
The two subspecies were formerly considered two different species, Mangareva Kingfisher and Niau Kingfisher. These are still considered separate by some checklists.
Subspecies
Two subspecies are often recognized:
- T. g. gambieri
- Extinct. Formerly Mangareva Island (eastern Tuamotu Archipelago).
- T. g. gertrudae
- Niau Island (northwestern Tuamotu Archipelago).
Habitat
Semi-open habitat, coconut plantations, gardens, and cultivated areas around villages.
Behaviour
The diet includes insects and small lizards.
It excavates nest-cavities in dead coconut trees.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.1)_red. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Woodall, P. F., E. de Juana, and C. J. Sharpe (2022). Tuamotu Kingfisher (Todiramphus gambieri), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.tuakin2.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Tuamotu Kingfisher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Tuamotu_Kingfisher
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
