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Todiramphus ruficollaris

Tanga‘eo (MG)

Mangaia Kingfisher

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult pair, and adult with skink	39KB
Image:	Two adults	38KB
Sound:	Calls - Mangaia (McPherson coll.)	490KB
Article:	The Status of Cook Islands Birds - 1996 Gerald McCormack, September 2005	Read

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Mangaia Kingfisher, Cook Islands Kingfisher; German Mangaialiest

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tanga‘eo (MG)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cook Islands (Mangaia)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Resident Breeder, Endemic of Cooks, 1 island; MG only - common; Land, forests - Barringtonia, makatea and inland lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Globally endangered (moderately)

KEY FEATURES: A small bird to 22cm with a large head and large black bill. Blue-green above, with a wide yellowish-orange collar and a narrower yellowish-orange head-band leaving a large blue-green cap; white below. VOICE brief series of "tangar-eeoOO" (hence its name Tanga‘eo), also represented as "ki-wow".

SIMILAR SPECIES: See Chattering Kingfisher (Todirhamphus tuta).

Enlarged Image of 'Todiramphus ruficollaris'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
-	++	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Todiramphus ruficollaris (Holyoak, 1974)
SYNONYMS: Halcyon mangaia; Halcyon ruficollaris; Halcyon tuta ruficollaris; Todirhamphus tuta ruficollaris; Todirhamphus ruficollaris [misspelt, Lesson 1828 spelling was Todiramphus NOT Todirhamphus]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; AVES; NEORNITHES; Coraciiformes; ALCEDINIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
BIODIVERSITY: Globally endangered (moderately). Comment: NBSAP - Mangaia (2 of 5 wild). Comments: An endemic Kingfisher to Mangaia. Similar to the Chattering Kingfisher except that it has a ruffous

IDENTIFICATION: A small bird to 22cm. Bill long stout and black; legs short and dark grey; tail narrow and dark blue. Body blue to blue-green above interrupted by a wide dull yellowish-orange collar and a narrow dull yellowish-orange head-band above the eye leaving a large blue-green cap; white below. Legs dark. VOICE: a characteristic two-note "tanga-eeeoo", repeated 3-5 times in succession, a pair sometimes call alternately. Also represented as "ki-wow".

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zupB06a, zM02, zupM03a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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