Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher

SCI Name:  Ceyx erithaca
Protonym:  Alcedo erithaca Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.115
Taxonomy:  Coraciiformes / Alcedinidae / Ceyx
Taxonomy Code:  bkbkin1
Type Locality:  Bengal.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

CEYX
(Alcedinidae; Ϯ Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher C. erithaca) L. ceyx, ceycis  seabird variously identified  < Gr. κηυξ kēux, κηυκος kēukos  seabird mentioned by Dionysius and Lucian, and considered identical to the halcyon. In Gr. myth. Ceyx, blasphemous husband to Alcyone, was drowned at sea and metamorphosed into a kingfisher along with his desolated wife when she found his body washed up on the shore; "62. CÉYX.  Ceyx.  { Le bec très-long; la langue courte; le tarse très-court; chaque pied ne présentant que trois doigts." (de Lacépède 1799); "Ceyx Lacépède, Tabl. Ois., 1799, p. 10. Type, by monotypy, Alcedo tridactyla Pallas = Alcedo erithaca Linné (species added, Daudin, in Buffon, Hist. Nat. (éd Didot), 14, 1802, p. 287.)" (Peters, 1945, V, p. 178).
Var. Ceix, Ceux, Ceycis.
Synon. Alcyon, Argyroceyx, Ceycalcyon, Ceycopsis, Cyanoceyx, Micralcyone, Therosa.

erithaca
Mod. L. erithacus robin (i.e. red-breasted)  < L. erithacus  unknown small bird  < Gr. εριθακος erithakos  unknown small bird, perhaps the European Robin, the Common Redstart, or the Black Redstart.
● "56. ALCEDO.  ...  erithaca.  2. A. brachyura, dorso cæruleo, abdomine luteo, capite uropygioque purpureo, gula nuchaque albis.  Alcedo benghalensis. Alb. av. 3. p. 28. t. 29.  Habitat in Benghala." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ceyx).

SUBSPECIES

Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher (erithaca)
SCI Name: Ceyx erithaca erithaca
erithaca
Mod. L. erithacus robin (i.e. red-breasted)  < L. erithacus  unknown small bird  < Gr. εριθακος erithakos  unknown small bird, perhaps the European Robin, the Common Redstart, or the Black Redstart.
● "56. ALCEDO.  ...  erithaca.  2. A. brachyura, dorso cæruleo, abdomine luteo, capite uropygioque purpureo, gula nuchaque albis.  Alcedo benghalensis. Alb. av. 3. p. 28. t. 29.  Habitat in Benghala." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ceyx).

Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher (macrocarus)
SCI Name: Ceyx erithaca macrocarus
macrocarus
Gr. μακρος makros  long, tall, high; καρη karē  head (cf. καρος karos  heavy sleep).