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
Sacred kingfisher 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. In New Zealand the species is also known by its Māori name kōtare. It is called “sacred” for it was said to be a holy bird for Polynesians, who believed it to have control over the waves. Likewise, the local subspecies of collared kingfisher and other kingfishers in the southwestern Pacific were ascribed venerable power over the ocean. The sacred kingfisher was described by the naturalists Nicholas Aylward