NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Sula Dwarf Kingfisher
Ceyx wallacii Sharpe, 1868
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 Sula dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx wallacii), is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Sula Islands in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher.
This species was formerly considered one of the 15 recognised subspecies of what was then known as the variable dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx lepidus or Alcedo lepidus). A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2013 found that most of the insular subspecies had substantially diverged from one another. The variable dwarf kingfisher was therefore split and 12 of the subspecies, including the Sula dwarf kingfisher, were promoted to species status. At the same time the name of the variable dwarf kingfisher was changed to the Moluccan dwarf kingfisher.
Wikipedia contributors, Sula dwarf kingfisher; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:31:07.255149+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ceyx wallacii Sharpe, 1868
- Name authority
- Sharpe, 1868
- Common name
- Sula Dwarf Kingfisher
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Alcedinidae
- Genus
- Ceyx
- 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
- subfamilyAlcedininae
- genusCeyx Lacépède, 1799
- speciesCeyx wallacii Sharpe, 1868
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ceyx. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Silvery KingfisherCeyx argentatus Tweeddale, 1877 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Azure KingfisherCeyx azureus (Latham, 1801) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Georgia Dwarf KingfisherCeyx collectoris Rothschild & E. Hartert, 1901 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Manus Dwarf KingfisherCeyx dispar Rothschild & E. Hartert, 1914 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malaita Dwarf KingfisherCeyx malaitae Mayr, 1935 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dimorphic Dwarf KingfisherCeyx margarethae W. Blasius, 1890 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| North Solomons Dwarf KingfisherCeyx meeki Rothschild, 1901 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Britain Dwarf KingfisherCeyx sacerdotis E. P. Ramsay, 1882 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bismarck KingfisherCeyx websteri (E. Hartert, 1898) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sulawesi Dwarf KingfisherCeyx fallax (Schlegel, 1866) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chameleon Dwarf KingfisherCeyx lepidus Temminck, 1836 | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| North Philippine Dwarf-kingfisherCeyx melanurus (Kaup, 1848) | AlcedinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ceyx lepidus wallacii Sharpe, 1868 Sharpe, 1868 | synonym |
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=1174575 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:8VDS9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.