NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Gray-headed Kingfisher
Halcyon leucocephala (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The grey-headed kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) is a species of bird in the kingfisher family, Alcedinidae. It is found across large parts of Africa and southern Arabia, from Mauritania through Senegal and the Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia, and south all the way through to South Africa. It is also found in islands off the African coast such as the Cape Verde islands and Zanzibar.
Wikipedia contributors, Grey-headed kingfisher; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:53:57.412267+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Halcyon leucocephala (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
- Name authority
- (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
- Common name
- Gray-headed Kingfisher
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Halcyon
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCoraciiformes
- familyAlcedinidae
- subfamilyHalcyoninae
- genusHalcyon Swainson, 1821
- speciesHalcyon leucocephala (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Halcyon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Javan KingfisherHalcyon cyanoventris (Vieillot, 1818) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-capped KingfisherHalcyon pileata (Boddaert, 1783) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mangrove KingfisherHalcyon senegaloides A. Smith, 1834 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-breasted KingfisherHalcyon smyrnensis (Linnaeus, 1758) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue-breasted KingfisherHalcyon malimbica (Shaw, 1812) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Woodland KingfisherHalcyon senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown-hooded KingfisherHalcyon albiventris (Scopoli, 1786) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ruddy KingfisherHalcyon coromanda (Latham, 1790) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554588 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6KY3G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.