Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1793
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, diary entry dated 10 September 1793. American Philosophical Society Library, Peale-Sellers Family Collection (Mss.B.P31).
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) wrote in his diary on 10 September 1793, during a collecting trip to Cape Henlopen, Delaware: "... after dinner I mounted a kingfisher" (American Philosophical Society Library, Peale-Sellers Family Collection, Mss.B.P31).
In his 19th Lecture, Peale first described an adult female: "No. 351. American Kingfisher, crested head blueish and black in the centre; the neck & sides are white; breast the colour of rust; a spot of white before each Eye; above the wings and tail of a blueish cast, spotted with white; the legs and under tail coverts are mixed with rufus and white; the quills and tail feathers are dotted on both webs with white; the feet red, & claws black. They inhabit the United States generally. Alcedo alcyon Linn. Martin pecheur huppé de St. Domingue Buff. pl. enl. 593. American Kingfisher Edw. p. 115. There is a disadvantage attending the naming of animals after the country where they are found, unless they are peculiar to such place only. In this Instance, Mr. Buff. calls this bird the King fisher of St. Domingue, when it is also to be found throughout the United States as well as at St. Domingue." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale added, in the same lecture: "No. 358. Female of 351. American Kingfisher", which may actually have been a male. (ANSP Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "No. 2144 & 2145. Belted Kingfisher (A. alcyon) is the only one found [in] Pennsylvania." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) described this species under the name "Belted Kingfisher / Alcedo alcyon" in American Ornithology vol. 3 (Pl. 23), where "Peale's Museum, No. 2145" was cited (Wilson 1811: 59). / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175516#page/73/mode/1up (text) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175516#page/72/mode/1up (plate)
A mounted specimen of "Alcedo alcyon (Belted Kingfisher)" was listed in "A Catalogue of Duplicate Specimens...", May 1822. [unpublished] APS Library (Mss.B.P31).
Notes:
Peale's collecting efforts at Cape Henlopen were overlooked by compilers of Delaware bird records, prior to this study (Gene K. Hess, in litt. 10 February 2024).
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Belted Kingfisher
Current Scientific Name
Alcedinidae | Megaceryle alcyon
