The hook-billed kingfisher (''Melidora macrorrhina'') is a species of

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

in the subfamily

Halcyoninae The tree kingfishers, also called wood kingfishers or Halcyoninae, are the most numerous of the three subfamilies of birds in the kingfisher family, with around 70 species divided into 12 genera, including several species of kookaburras. The sub ...

that is resident in the lowland forested areas of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and some of the nearby islands. It is the only member of the genus ''Melidora''.

Taxonomy

The first formal description of the hook-billed kingfisher was by the French surgeon and naturalist

René Lesson René Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgery, surgeon, natural history, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist. Biography Lesson was born at Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort, and entered the Naval ...

in 1827 under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Dacelo macrorrhina''. The hook-billed kingfisher is now the only species placed within the genus ''Melidora'' which was introduced by Lesson in 1830. The title page has the year 1831. The name of the genus probably comes from the classical Greek ''mēlis'' for "yellow" and ''doru'' for "spear". The specific epithet ''macrorrhina'' is from the classical Greek ''makros'' for "long" and ''rhis'' for "nose". There are three subspecies: * ''M. m. waigiuensis''

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German people, German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married ...

, 1930 – Waigeo Island * ''M. m. macrorrhina'' (Lesson, R, 1827) – west, central, and east New Guinea,

Misool Misool, formerly spelled Mysol (Dutch: Misoöl) or Misol, is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. Its area is 2,034 km2. The highest point is 561 m and the main towns are Waigama, located on ...

and Batanta Islands * ''M. m. jobiensis'' Salvadori, 1880 – north New Guinea and

Yapen Island Yapen (also Japen, Jobi) is an island of Papua (province), Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is ...

Description

The hook-billed kingfisher is a large dumpy kingfisher with a length of and a weight of . It has a long, white stripe below its eyes. Its underside is white. It has dull yellow feet. The call and song are mainly given at night. The most common call is a long whistle followed by a series of higher pitched short notes.

Behaviour

Breeding

The hook-billed kingfisher excavates a nest chamber in an active arboreal termite nest above the ground. The clutch is two white eggs which hatch asynchronously. The male helps to incubate the eggs and brood the young.

Feeding

It feeds on insects and frogs. It may dig into the soil searching for prey in a similar manner to the shovel-billed kookaburra.

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the hook-billed kingfisher

hook-billed kingfisher The hook-billed kingfisher (''Melidora macrorrhina'') is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Halcyoninae that is resident in the lowland forested areas of New Guinea and some of the nearby islands. It is the only member of the genus ''Melido ...

Endemic birds of New Guinea

Taxa named by René Lesson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Coraciiformes-stub