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 Tangkoko Nature Reserve
Collared Kingfisher
Todiramphus chloris
Green-backed Kingfisher
Actenoides monachus
Sulawesi Lilac Kingfisher
Cittura cyanotis
Sulawesi Kingfisher
Ceyx fallax
Ruddy Kingfisher
Halcyon coromanda
Common Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis
Great-billed Kingfisher
Pelargopsis melanorhyncha
Blue-eared Kingfisher
Alcedo meninting
Purple-winged Roller
Coracias temminckii
Rainbow Bee-eater
Merops ornatus
Dollarbird
Eurystomus orientalis
Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Merops philippinus
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 Tangkoko Nature Reserve?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sacred Kingfisher sighting in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Sacred Kingfisher in Tangkoko Nature Reserve?
July has the highest sighting rate for Sacred Kingfisher in Tangkoko Nature Reserve in our monthly data.