Lilac kingfisher Lilac kingfisher The lilac kingfisher or Celebes flat-billed kingfisher ("Cittura cyanotis") is a resident breeding bird in the lowlands of the Indonesia island of Sulawesi and the neighbouring Sangihe and Talaud Islands. It is the only member of the genus "Cittura". The first formal description of the lilac kingfisher was by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1824 under the binomial name "Dacelo cyanotis". The genus "Cittura" was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. The genus name is from classical Greek "kitta" for "magpie" and "oura" for "tail". The specific epithet "cyanotis" is from classical
Belted kingfisher naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. "Megaceryle" is from the Ancient Greek "megas", "great", and the existing genus "Ceryle". The specific "alcyon" is Latin for "kingfisher". The "Megaceryle" large green kingfishers were formerly placed in "Ceryle" with the pied kingfisher, but the latter is closer to the "Chloroceryle" American green kingfishers. The belted kingfisher's closest living relative is the ringed kingfisher ("M. torquata"), and these two in all probability originated from an African "Megaceryle" which colonized the Americas. The belted kingfisher is a stocky, medium-sized bird that measures between in length with a wingspan of between . This kingfisher can