Relationship With Humans
Kingfishers are generally shy birds, but in spite of this they feature heavily in human culture, generally due to the large head supporting its powerful mouth, their bright plumage, or some species' interesting behaviour.
For the Dusun people of Borneo, the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher is considered a bad omen, and warriors that see one on the way to battle should return home. Another Bornean tribe consider the Banded Kingfisher an omen bird, albeit generally a good omen.
The Sacred Kingfisher, along with other Pacific kingfishers, was venerated by the Polynesians, who believed it had control over the seas and waves.
Modern taxonomy also refers to the winds and sea in naming kingfishers after a classical Greek myth. The first pair of the mythical-bird Halcyon (kingfishers) were created from a marriage of Alcyone and Ceyx. As gods they lived the sacrilege of referring to themselves as Zeus and Hera. They died for this, but the other gods, in an act of compassion, made them into birds and thus restored them to their original seaside habitat. In addition special "Halcyon days" were granted. These are the seven days either side of the winter solstice when storms shall never again occur for them. The Halcyon birds' "days" were for caring for the winter-hatched clutch (or brood), but the phrase "Halcyon days" also refers specifically to an idyllic time in the past, or in general to a peaceful time.
Various kinds of kingfishers and human cultural artifacts are named after the couple, in reference to this metamorphosis myth:
- The genus Ceyx (within the River kingfishers family) is named after him.
- The kingfisher family Halcyonidae (Tree Kingfishers) is named after his wife, as is the genus Halcyon.
- The Belted Kingfisher's Latin species name (Megaceryle alcyon) also references her name.
Not all the kingfishers are named in this way. The etymology of kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is obscure; the term comes from king's fisher, but why that name was applied is not known.
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