Belted kingfisher
species of bird
The belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, native to North America.
Taxonomy
The belted kingfisher received its scientific name from Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. He introduced the binomial name Alcedo alcyon, basing the name on descriptions and images published by Mark Catesby (1731), John Ray (1713), and George Edwards (1750). The current genus Megaceryle was erected by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. Megaceryle is from the Ancient Greek megas, "great", and the existing genus Ceryle. The specific name alcyon is Latin for "kingfisher".
The Megaceryle large green kingfishers were formerly placed in Ceryle with the pied kingfisher, but the latter is closer to the Chloroceryle American green kingfishers. The belted kingfisher's closest living relative is the ringed kingfisher (M. torquata), and these two in all probability originated from an African Megaceryle, which colonized the Americas.
Description
The belted kingfisher is a stocky, medium-sized bird that measures from 28–35 cm (11–14 in) in length with a wingspan from 48–58 cm (19–23 in). It can weigh from 113–178 g (4.0–6.3 oz).
“Belted kingfisher” enters the record as species of bird. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Belted, kingfisher and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q736052. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1758, 1731, 1713 and 1750.
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This entry incorporates text from “Belted kingfisher” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.