Kingfisher in length and between in weight. The largest kingfisher in Africa is the giant kingfisher ("Megaceryle maxima"), which is in length and in weight. The familiar Australian kingfisher known as the laughing kookaburra ("Dacelo novaeguineae") is the heaviest species with females reaching nearly in weight. The plumage of most kingfishers is bright, with green and blue being the most common colours. The brightness of the colours is neither the product of iridescence (except in the American kingfishers) or pigments, but is instead caused by the structure of the feathers, which causes scattering of blue light (the Tyndall effect). In most
Striped kingfisher Striped kingfisher The striped kingfisher ("Halcyon chelicuti") is a species of bird in the tree kingfisher subfamily. It was first described by Edward, Lord Stanley, in "Salt's Voyage to Abyssinia" in 1814 as "Chelicut kingfisher" "Alaudo Chelicuti". The genus name "Halcyon" comes from a bird in Greek legend generally associated with the kingfisher. There was an ancient belief that the halcyon nested on the sea, which it calmed in order to lay its eggs on a floating nest. The species' name "chelicuti" derives from Chelicut in Ethiopia, the location at which Stanley's type specimen was obtained. This is a highly