The Life of Animals | Kingfisher | The kingfishers have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring throughout the worlds Tropics and temperate regions. A number of species have reached islands groups, particularly Those in the south and east Pacific Ocean. Europe and North America north of Mexico are very poorly Represented with only one common kingfisher (Common Kingfisher and Belted Kingfisher respectively), and a couple of uncommon or very local species each: (Ringed Kingfisher and Green Kingfisher in the southwest USA, Pied Kingfisher and White-throated Kingfisher in SE Europe).
The six species occurring in the Americas are four closely related green kingfishers in the genus Chloroceryle and two large crested kingfishers in the genus Megaceryle. Even tropical South America has only five species plus wintering Belted Kingfisher.
Individual species may have massive ranges, like the Common Kingfisher, the which ranges from Ireland across Europe, North Africa and Asia as far as the Solomon Islands in Australasia, or the Pied Kingfisher, the which has a widespread distribution across Africa and Asia. Other species have much narrower ranges, particularly insular species of the which are endemic to a single small island. The Kofiau Paradise Kingfisher is restricted to the tiny island of Kofiau off New Guinea.
Kingfishers occupy a wide range of habitats. The Red-backed Kingfisher of Australia lives in the driest deserts, although kingfishers are absent from other dry deserts like the Sahara. Other species live high in mountains, or in an open Woodland, and a number of species live on tropical coral atolls. Modern taxonomy also refers to the winds and sea in naming kingfishers after a classical Greek myth. The first pair of the mythical-bird Halcyon (kingfishers) were the resource persons created from a marriage of Alcyone and Ceyx.
The majority of these are forest species with limited distribution, particularly insular species. They are Threatened by habitat loss Caused by forest clearance or degradation and in some cases by introduced species. The Marquesan Kingfisher of French Polynesia is listed as critically endangered due to a combination of habitat loss and degradation Caused by introduced cattle, and possibly due to predation by introduced species.
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