Tanysiptera

Tanysiptera galatea, the common paradise-kingfisher, is an arresting bird with the unmistakably huge head and the trowel-like beak characteristic of kingfishers generally.

The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

Soon after that he got a racquet-tailed kingfisher, bright blue and white with a coral red bill, assignable to the genus Tanysiptera on the basis of its two elongated tail feathers, which were lobed at the ends like little squash rackets.

The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

Numfor harbors a distinct species within the paradise-kingfisher group, Tanysiptera carolinae.

The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

As an example, he mentioned the paradise-kingfisher group of species—Tanysiptera galatea and others—on mainland New Guinea and its satellite islands.

The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

Mayr postulated that, sometime in the past, a few pairs of Tanysiptera galatea happened to reach this little satellite from the mainland.

The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

That which I now obtained was a new one, and has been named Tanysiptera hydrocharis, but in general form and coloration it is exactly similar to the larger species found in Amboyna, and figured at page 468 of my first volume.

The Malay Archipelago 2004

Among these were two kingfishers, Tanysiptera acis and Ceyx Cajeli; a beautiful sunbird, Nectarines proserpina; a handsome little black and white flycatcher, Monarcha loricata, whose swelling throat was beautifully scaled with metallic blue; and several of less interest.

The Malay Archipelago 2004

I also obtained one or two specimens of the fine racquet-tailed kingfisher of Amboyna, Tanysiptera nais, one of the most singular and beautiful of that beautiful family.

The Malay Archipelago 2004

The genus Tanysiptera, to which this bird belongs, is remarkable for the enormously lengthened tail, which in all other kingfishers is small and short.

The Malay Archipelago 2004

But among the smaller offshore islands, the genus Tanysiptera had diversified into six different forms, most of which were considered distinct species.

The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004