Half-collared Kingfisher

SCI Name:  Alcedo semitorquata
Protonym:  Alcedo semitorquata Zool.Ill. 3 pl.151,text
Taxonomy:  Coraciiformes / Alcedinidae / Alcedo
Taxonomy Code:  hackin1
Type Locality:  Great Fish River, South Africa.
Author:  Swainson
Publish Year:  1823
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ALCEDO
(Alcedinidae; Ϯ Common Kingfisher A. atthis ispida) L. alcedo, alcedinis  or halcedo, halcedinis  kingfisher.  The later spellings are from the false etymology of Gr. ἁλς hals  sea; "56. ALCEDO.  Rostrum trigonum, crassum, rectum, longum.  Lingua carnosa, brevissima, plana, acuta." (Linnaeus 1758); "Alcedo Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 115. Type, by subsequent designation, Alcedo ispida Linné. (Swainson, Zool. Illustr., 1, 1820-21 (1821), text to pl. 26.)" (Peters, 1945, V, p. 170).  Linnaeus's Alcedo comprised seven species (A. Ispida, A. erithaca, A. Alcyon, A. Todus, A. smyrnensis, A. rudis, A. Dea).  New data supports the possible creation of a new order (Alcediniformes), containing the kingfishers, motmots and todies, separate from the current Coraciiformes.
Var. Halcedo, Alaudo, Aleedo, Alucido. 
Synon. Alcedoides, Alcyone, Caeruleornis, Capya, Cyanispida, Euryzonia, Ispida, Kerytus, Megalcedo, Pseudalcedo.

alcedo
L. alcedo, alcedinis or halcedo, halcedinis  kingfisher (see Alcedo).

semitorquata / semitorquatus
Mod. L. semitorquatus  half-collared  < L. semi-  half-, semi-, small  < semis, semissis  half  < as, assis  whole; torquatus  collared  < torques  collar  < torquere  to twist.
● ex “Héoro-taire à collier blanc” of Audebert & Vieillot 1802 (syn. Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris).
● ex “Petit Engoulevent tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 734, and de Buffon 1770-1783, and “White-collared Goatsucker” of Latham 1783 (Lurocalis).
● ex “Esparvero faxado” (= ☼) of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 19 (Micrastur).
● ex “Figuier à demi-collier” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Half-collared Warbler” of Latham 1783 and Pennant 1785 (unident.).

SUBSPECIES

Half-collared Kingfisher (heuglini)
SCI Name: Alcedo semitorquata heuglini
heuglini / heuglinii
Martin Theodor von Heuglin (1824-1876) German mining engineer, ornithologist, explorer in the Sudan, Abyssinia, Eritrea and Somaliland 1851-1864, and the Arctic 1870-1871 (subsp. Alcedo semitorquata, subsp. Argya rubiginosa, syn. Batis orientalis, syn. Butastur rufipennis, syn. Centropus monachus fischeri, Cossypha, syn. Cuculus solitarius, subsp. Dendropicos obsoletus, subsp. Larus fuscus, subsp. Merops hirundineus, Neotis, Oenanthe, Ploceus, syn. Pternistis clappertoni, syn. Zosterops senegalensis).

Half-collared Kingfisher (semitorquata)
SCI Name: Alcedo semitorquata semitorquata
semitorquata / semitorquatus
Mod. L. semitorquatus  half-collared  < L. semi-  half-, semi-, small  < semis, semissis  half  < as, assis  whole; torquatus  collared  < torques  collar  < torquere  to twist.
● ex “Héoro-taire à collier blanc” of Audebert & Vieillot 1802 (syn. Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris).
● ex “Petit Engoulevent tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 734, and de Buffon 1770-1783, and “White-collared Goatsucker” of Latham 1783 (Lurocalis).
● ex “Esparvero faxado” (= ☼) of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 19 (Micrastur).
● ex “Figuier à demi-collier” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Half-collared Warbler” of Latham 1783 and Pennant 1785 (unident.).

Half-collared Kingfisher (tephria)
SCI Name: Alcedo semitorquata tephria
tephria
Gr. τεφρηεις tephrēeis  ash-coloured  < τεφρα tephra  ashes (cf. L. tephrias  ash-coloured stone).