Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)

Oriental Dwarf-kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca) - HBW 6, p. 229

French: Martin-pêcheur pourpré German: Dschungelfischer Spanish: Martín Pigmeo Oriental
Other common names: Malay/Three-toed/Rufous-backed/Red-backed Kingfisher, Black-backed/Rufous-backed Dwarf-kingfisher, Malay Forest-kingfisher

Taxonomy: Alcedo erithaca Linnaeus, 1758, Bengal.
Forms a superspecies with C. melanurus. Distinctive rufous-backed form was, in past, widely considered a separate species, “C. rufidorsa”; this view was supported by the situation N of Kuala Lumpur (C Peninsular Malaysia), where there is little hybridization between rufous-backed and black-backed morphs and only the latter is migratory; on other hand, considerable hybridization occurs in Borneo, and also in Sumatra and S Peninsular Malaysia, with a wide range of intermediates, strongly suggesting that the two forms are merely morphs of a single species. Population on Sumatran islands of Simeulue and Batu sometimes separated as race jungei and that on Nias as race captus, but both now seem better placed within nominate; birds of Mindoro have at times been further separated as race vargasi. Original species name erithaca is a noun, and therefore remains unchanged, irrespective of gender of genus in which placed. Three subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

erithaca (Linnaeus, 1758) - SW India (S from Bombay) S to Sri Lanka, and from Bhutan E to S China (Yunnan, Hainan) and S to Sumatra and adjacent islands.
macrocarus Oberholser, 1917 - Andaman Is, Nicobar Is, and islands off W Sumatra (Simeulue, Nias, Batu).
motleyi Chasen & Kloss, 1929 - NC & W Philippines (Mindoro and Panay to Palawan) and S to Borneo and Java, then E to Sumbawa and Flores.