Makira Dwarf-Kingfisher Ceyx gentianus Scientific name definitions

14 cm; 22–24·8 g. A small, striking brilliant blue-and-white kingfisher, the ‘oddball’ of the C. lepidus species complex. Hefty, all-black dagger-like bill, blue upperparts with shining ultramarine back, white lores and ear-coverts spot. It is the only member of this complex that completely lacks orange in the plumage, recalling C. pusillus but lacks blue on breast-sides and flanks.

Makira (San Cristobal), in E Solomons.

A high-pitched single whistle  , usually given in flight but also while perched, “tzzeep”, can be repeated several times, typically at steady pace, but occasionally in a more rapid series; like other Melanesian members of the C. lepidus species complex.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Restricted-range species: endemic to Solomon group EBA. Overall range is small (3200 km²). During fieldwork in 1990, this species was common, and encounter rates suggested 30–90 birds per km² (2 Buckingham, D.L., Dutson, G.C.L. and Newman, J.L. (1995). Birds of Manus, Kolombangara and Makira (San Cristobal) with notes on mammals and records from other Solomon Islands. Unpublished report for the Cambridge Solomons Rainforest Project 1990, Cambridge. Close ), equivalent to 20–60 mature individuals per km², and subsequent field work on the island appears consistent with these densities (3 Danielsen, F., Filardi, C.E., Jønsson, K.A., Kohaia, V., Krabbe, N., Kristensen, J.B., Moyle, R.G., Pikacha, P., Poulsen, M.K., Sørensen, M.K., Tatahu, C., Waihuru, J. and Fjeldså, J. (2010). Endemic avifaunal biodiversity and tropical forest loss in Makira, a mountainous Pacific island. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. 31(1): 100-114. Close ). Therefore, conservatively assuming that only a proportion of its range is occupied, the global population would fall in the range 10,000–30,000 mature individuals BirdLife International (2018) Species factsheet: Ceyx gentianus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/01/2018. . Current threats are not known, but are not thought to be significant. Subsistence farming and industrial logging continue to cause deforestation, but the rate of forest loss across its range is judged to be low (4 Tracewski, L., S. H. M. Butchart, M. Di Marco, G. F. Ficetola, C. Rondinini, A. Symes, H. Wheatley, A. E. Beresford, and G. M. Buchanan (2016). Toward quantification of the impact of 21st-century deforestation on the extinction risk of terrestrial vertebrates. Conservation Biology 30(5):1070–1079. Close ), and since the species is apparently tolerant of habitat degradation, any declines are thought likely to be very slow BirdLife International (2018) Species factsheet: Ceyx gentianus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/01/2018. . Could be susceptible to the accidental future introduction of brown tree-snake (Boiga irregularis), which could cause a rapid decline in the present species’ population, given its impacts on other bird species (including Halcyon cinnamomina on Guam), although the severity of any potential decline is difficult to predict.