LC
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2022 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency low
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 25,400,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 44,600,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size 1800000 mature individuals poor estimated 2022
Population trend stable - estimated -
Generation length 3.65 years - - -

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number 1.8 million mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2022).

Trend justification: The species has been undergoing a moderate decline at an average of 1.41% per year between 1970 and 2017 (Rosenberg et al. 2019, Partners in Flight 2022). Short-term trends however suggest that the population may have been stable over the past three generations (11 years; Pardieck et al. 2018, Meehan et al. 2020).


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Anguilla (to UK) extant native yes
Antigua and Barbuda extant native yes
Aruba (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Bahamas extant native yes
Barbados extant native yes
Belize extant native yes
Bermuda (to UK) extant vagrant
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Canada extant native yes yes
Cayman Islands (to UK) extant native yes
Colombia extant native yes
Costa Rica extant native yes
Cuba extant native yes
CuraƧao (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Dominica extant native yes
Dominican Republic extant native yes
Ecuador extant native yes
El Salvador extant native yes
Greenland (to Denmark) extant vagrant
Grenada extant native yes
Guadeloupe (to France) extant native yes
Guatemala extant native yes
Guyana extant native yes
Haiti extant native yes
Honduras extant native yes
Jamaica extant native yes
Martinique (to France) extant native yes
Mexico extant native yes
Montserrat (to UK) extant native yes
Netherlands extant vagrant
Nicaragua extant native yes
Panama extant native yes
Portugal extant vagrant
Puerto Rico (to USA) extant native yes
Sint Maarten (to Netherlands) extant native yes
St Barthelemy (to France) extant native yes
St Kitts and Nevis extant native yes
St Lucia extant native yes
St Martin (to France) extant native yes
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France) extant native yes
St Vincent and the Grenadines extant native yes
Trinidad and Tobago extant native yes
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) extant native yes
United Kingdom extant vagrant
United States Minor Outlying Islands (to USA) extant native yes
USA extant native yes yes yes
Venezuela extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to UK) extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to USA) extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial Rural Gardens suitable non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Rural Gardens suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha) major non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha) major breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha) suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha) suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls) major non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls) major breeding
Altitude 0 - 2500 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/belted-kingfisher-megaceryle-alcyon on 27/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 27/12/2024.