| Ispidina | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| African pygmy kingfisher (Ispidina picta) | |
 | |
| African dwarf kingfisher (Ispidina lecontei) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Alcedinidae |
| Subfamily: | Alcedininae |
| Genus: | Ispidina Kaup, 1848 |
| Type species | |
| Todus pictus[1] Boddaert, 1783 | |
| Species | |
see text | |
 | |
| African pygmy kingfisher range Extant (resident) Extant (breeding) | |
 | |
| African dwarf kingfisher range | |
Ispidina is a genus of small insectivorous African river kingfishers.
The genus was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848 with the African pygmy kingfisher (Ispidina picta) as the type species.[2][3] The genus is the sister group to the genus Corythornis containing four small African kingfishers.[4]
The two species in the genus are:[5]
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
_(33161482716).jpg) | Ispidina picta | African pygmy kingfisher | Africa south of the Sahara |
 | Ispidina lecontei | African dwarf kingfisher | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Uganda. |
These similar small kingfishers can be distinguished by the blue crown of the African pigmy kingfisher. They have different habit preferences and have mostly non-overlapping ranges. The slightly smaller African dwarf kingfisher occurs in tropical rainforests while the African pygmy kingfisher occurs in dry grassy woodland.[6]
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