Mariana Kingfisher (Todiramphus albicilla albicilla) 8 September 2019. WW II Memorials, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Mariana Kingfisher (Todiramphus albicilla albicilla)

Mariana Kingfisher (Todiramphus albicilla albicilla)

Mariana Kingfisher (Todiramphus albicilla albicilla)
These kingfishers were common in a variety of wooded habitats. We often saw them perching on power lines. This species has recently been split from the widespread Collared Kingfisher (T. chloris) also known as Mangrove Kingfisher or White-collared Kingfisher. Older references place these birds in the genus Halcyon. The new split is based on a genetic study by Andersen et al (2015) who found that the Mariana Kingfisher is actually more closely related to the Beach Kingfisher (T. saurophagus) than to Collared Kingfisher. Beach and Mariana both look quite different from Collared Kingfisher in that they are mostly white headed. As seen here, Mariana Kingfisher's crown and nape are white contrasting with dark lores, ear-coverts and a horizontal nape mark. Some birds showed more extensive dusky crown streaking, possibly a sign of immaturity. This split has been accepted by Clements et al. (2019) and Gill & Donsker (2019), but not by Woodall (2019) or Christides et al (2018). The new taxonomy gives the Marianas a new endemic. There are three subspecies of which Saipan birds are representative of the paler nominate race. Canon PowerShot SX60.

References:

Andersen, M.J.; Shult, H.T.; Cibois, A.; Thibault, J.C.; Filardi, C.E.; Moyle, R.G. (2015). Rapid diversification and secondary sympatry in Australo-Pacific kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae: Todiramphus). Royal Society Open Science. 2 (140375).

Christidis et al. 2018. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, version 4.1 (Downloadable checklist). Accessed from https://www.howardandmoore.org.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

Fry, C.F., Fry, K. and Harris, A. (1991). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Rollers. Princeton University Press

Gill, F & D Donsker (Eds). 2019. IOC World Bird List (v9.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.9.2. Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/

Pratt, H.D., Bruner, P., and Berrett, D.G. (1987) A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press

Woodall, P.F. (2019). Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/55767 on 25 October 2019).
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