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Clearing up the Collared Kingfishers

10,000 Birds

One new Pacific island form is the Mariana Kingfisher ( Todiramphus albicilla ) from the Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Saipan, Micronesia. Subspecies juliae , Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. For example only a single subspecies from Vanuatu was sampled. Mariana Kingfisher. Torrresian Kingfisher. Image by author.

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Confusing Collared Kingfishers

10,000 Birds

Vanuatu has five subspecies, Fiji has three, and the far flung Solomon Islands have twelve. It would be harder to get a stronger contrast to the dark headed Australian sordita than the form found on the Micronesian island of Saipan. Subspecies albicilla , Saipan, Micronesia. Image by author.

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