Sacred Kingfisher
Todiramphus sanctus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderCoraciiformes (Rollers, Kingfishers, and Allies)
- FamilyAlcedinidae (Kingfishers)
- GenusTodiramphus (Indo-Pacific Kingfishers)
- SpeciesTodiramphus sanctus (Sacred Kingfisher)
About the Sacred Kingfisher
The sacred kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) is a medium-sized woodland kingfisher that occurs in mangroves, woodlands, forests and river valleys in Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the western Pacific. The binomial name Halcyon sanctus was introduced by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827 who described a sacred kingfisher zoological specimen from New Holland, Australia. Vigors and Horsfield compare it with Alcedo sacra described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788. Gmelin in turn based his description on John Latham's "Sacred King's Fisher" published in 1782. Latham described several varieties, one of which was illustrated in Arthur Phillip's The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay published in 1789. The genus Halcyon was split and the sacred kingfisher was placed in the genus Todiramphus that had been erected by the French surgeon and naturalist René Lesson in 1827. The generic name is derived from the genus Todus (Brisson, 1760), 'tody' (a West Indian insectivorous bird) and Ancient Greek rhamphos (ῥάμφος), 'bill'. The specific epithet is the Latin sanctus 'sacred'.
Five subspecies are recognised: T. s. sanctus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Raja Ampat
Beach Kingfisher
Todiramphus saurophagus
Blue-black Kingfisher
Todiramphus nigrocyaneus
Collared Kingfisher
Todiramphus chloris
Rufous-bellied Kookaburra
Dacelo gaudichaud
Common Paradise-Kingfisher
Tanysiptera galatea
Yellow-billed Kingfisher
Syma torotoro
Hook-billed Kingfisher
Melidora macrorrhina
Papuan Dwarf-Kingfisher
Ceyx solitarius
Little Kingfisher
Ceyx pusillus
Kofiau Paradise-Kingfisher
Tanysiptera ellioti
Azure Kingfisher
Ceyx azureus
Red-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher
Tanysiptera nympha
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Sacred Kingfisher in Raja Ampat?
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Sacred Kingfisher sighting in Raja Ampat, based on 449 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Sacred Kingfisher in Raja Ampat?
August has the highest sighting rate for Sacred Kingfisher in Raja Ampat in our monthly data.