Introduction to Kingfishers

Header image: A forest kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii), Queensland, Australia. Photo by J.J. Harrison (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license).

What are kingfishers?

An introduction to kingfishers (family Alcendinidae), including a brief description of what they look like, what they eat, how diverse they are, where they live, and what their conservation status is.

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Photograph of a bird sitting on a crushed stone wall. The photo shows a brown bird with bright blue wings and a long reddish beak.

Kingfisher fun facts

Fun facts about kingfishers.

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Photograph of a crested kingfisher sitting on a snowy branch. The photo shows a crested bird with a black-and-white specked head and wings and a white breast speckled with orange and black.

Australo-Pacific kingfishers (Todiramphus)

An introduction to Australo-Pacific kingfishers (genus Todiramphus), including their evolution, behavior, distribution, and threats.

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Photograph of a rufous-lored kingfisher sitting on a branch. The bird has a blue cap, a red spot just above its beak, a black beak, and a white breast.

Using Australo-Pacific kingfishers to study species radiations

An overview of species radiations on islands, the difference between adaptive and geographic radiations, and how studying Australo-Pacific kingfishers helps scientists to understand geographic radiations.

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