Facts About Philippine dwarf kingfisher
The Philippine dwarf kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Taxonomy
The Philippine kingfisher was formally described by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848 under the binomial name Alcedo melanura. The specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek melanouros meaning "with a black tail". The Philippine dwarf kingfisher is now placed in the genus Ceyx that was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799.
Three subspecies are recognised:
- C. m. melanurus (Kaup, 1848) – Luzon, Polillo, Alabat and Catanduanes (north Philippines)
- C. m. samarensis Steere, 1890 – Samar and Leyte (east central Philippines)
- C. m. mindanensis Steere, 1890 – Mindanao and Basilan (south Philippines)
The subspecies C. m. mindanensis is sometimes treated as a separate species, the south Philippine dwarf-kingfisher (Ceyx mindanensis).
In March of 2020 a fledgling of the C. m. mindanensis subspecies was photographed for the first time. After 10 years of searching in the field Filipino field biologist Michael David De Leon photographed the bird.