Brown-hooded Kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris)

Leucism /ˈljuːsɪzəm/ is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals caused by a recessive allele. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin.

Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australasia. The group is treated either as a single family, Alcedinidae, or as a suborder Alcedines containing three families, Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers). There are roughly 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish, usually caught by swooping down from a perch. Like other members of their order they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. A few species, principally insular forms, are threatened with extinction. In Britain, the word 'kingfisher' normally refers to the Common Kingfisher.

The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colorful near passerine birds including the kingfishers, the Hoopoe, the bee-eaters, the rollers, and the hornbills. They generally have syndactyly, with three forward-pointing toes (and toes 3 & 4 fused at their base), though in many kingfishers one of these is missing.

This is largely an Old World order, with the representation in the New World limited to the dozen or so species of todies and motmots, and a mere handful of the more than 90 species of kingfishers. This is the most diverse bird order in body weight, ranging from the 5.5 gram Puerto Rican Tody (Todus mexicanus) to the 4.5 kg Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri), if the hornbills indeed belong under this classification.

The name Coraciiformes means "Raven-like", which is a misnomer (ravens are passerines). Specifically, it comes from the Latin language "Corax", meaning "Raven" and Latin "Forma", meaning "form", which is the standard ending for bird orders. [Terres p 104]

This list of African birds is a listing of all the bird species known from the continent of Africa.

The taxonomy of this list adheres to James Clements' Birds of the World: A Checklist, and reflects all changes to that work until July, 2005. Taxonomic changes are on-going. As more research is gathered from studies of distribution, behavior, and DNA, the order and number of families and species may change. Furthermore, different approaches to ornithological nomenclature have led to concurrent systems of classification (see Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy).

The area covered by this list is the same as the Africa region defined by the American Birding Association's listing rules. It includes Socotra in the Arabian Sea, São Tomé and Annobon in the Gulf of Guinea, and the Canary Islands, but excludes Madeira. The region does not include Madagascar or the Comoro Islands.

Order: Sphenisciformes. Family: Spheniscidae

Order: Gaviiformes. Family: Gaviidae