The Kofiau Paradise-Kingfisher had a decidedly international introduction to the ornithological world as S.D. Ripley pointed out in his 1959 treatise on the Raja Ampat Islands. First secured in 1867 by one of Hoedt's collectors, most likely D. Hokum, the type was acquired by Count Turati in Milan who sent it to J. Verreaux in Paris for identification. There it was seen by D.G. Elliot of New York, who advised that the specimen be sent to R.B. Sharpe in London. Finally, Sharpe formally described it in 1869.