Megaceryle alcyon
E706105
Megaceryle alcyon, commonly known as the belted kingfisher, is a stocky, crested waterside bird of North America recognized for its loud rattling call and dramatic plunge-diving for fish.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Megaceryle alcyon canonical | 4 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8025304 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Megaceryle alcyon Context triple: [Alcedinidae, notableSpecies, Megaceryle alcyon]
-
A.
Cape gannet
The Cape gannet is a large seabird native to southern Africa, known for its striking black-and-white plumage, yellowish head, and spectacular high-speed plunge-diving for fish.
-
B.
Caspian tern
The Caspian tern is a large, powerful seabird and the world’s biggest tern species, known for its stout red bill and wide distribution across coastal and inland waters worldwide.
-
C.
Goliath heron
The Goliath heron is the world’s largest heron species, a towering wading bird of African wetlands known for its massive size, chestnut plumage, and solitary hunting behavior.
-
D.
Cape Bird
Cape Bird is an ice-free volcanic headland on Ross Island in Antarctica, known for its large Adélie penguin colonies and scientific research stations.
-
E.
Cape cormorant
The Cape cormorant is a medium-sized, dark-plumaged seabird native to the southwestern African coast, where it breeds in large coastal colonies and feeds mainly on small schooling fish.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Megaceryle alcyon Target entity description: Megaceryle alcyon, commonly known as the belted kingfisher, is a stocky, crested waterside bird of North America recognized for its loud rattling call and dramatic plunge-diving for fish.
-
A.
Cape gannet
The Cape gannet is a large seabird native to southern Africa, known for its striking black-and-white plumage, yellowish head, and spectacular high-speed plunge-diving for fish.
-
B.
Caspian tern
The Caspian tern is a large, powerful seabird and the world’s biggest tern species, known for its stout red bill and wide distribution across coastal and inland waters worldwide.
-
C.
Goliath heron
The Goliath heron is the world’s largest heron species, a towering wading bird of African wetlands known for its massive size, chestnut plumage, and solitary hunting behavior.
-
D.
Cape Bird
Cape Bird is an ice-free volcanic headland on Ross Island in Antarctica, known for its large Adélie penguin colonies and scientific research stations.
-
E.
Cape cormorant
The Cape cormorant is a medium-sized, dark-plumaged seabird native to the southwestern African coast, where it breeds in large coastal colonies and feeds mainly on small schooling fish.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (63)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
bird species
ⓘ
kingfisher ⓘ taxon ⓘ |
| activityPattern | diurnal ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
freshwater ecosystems
ⓘ
riparian zones ⓘ |
| averageLength | 28–33 cm ⓘ |
| averageMass | 113–178 g ⓘ |
| averageWingspan | 48–58 cm ⓘ |
| binomialName | Megaceryle alcyon ⓘ |
| bodyShape | stocky ⓘ |
| breedingRange |
most of Canada
ⓘ
most of the United States ⓘ |
| class | Aves ⓘ |
| clutchSize | 5–8 eggs ⓘ |
| commonName |
belted kingfisher
ⓘ
linked to:
Belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
|
| describedBy | Carl Linnaeus ⓘ |
| diet |
amphibians
ⓘ
aquatic invertebrates ⓘ fish ⓘ small crustaceans ⓘ |
| distinctiveFeature |
large head
ⓘ
long heavy bill ⓘ shaggy crest ⓘ |
| eggColor | white ⓘ |
| family | Alcedinidae ⓘ |
| foragingBehavior |
hovering over water before diving
ⓘ
plunge-diving ⓘ |
| genus | Megaceryle ⓘ |
| habitat |
coastal shorelines
ⓘ
lakes ⓘ ponds ⓘ rivers ⓘ streams ⓘ wetlands ⓘ |
| iucnStatus | Least Concern ⓘ |
| iucnStatusSystem |
IUCN Red List
ⓘ
linked to:
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
|
| kingdom | Animalia ⓘ |
| maximumLength | about 33 cm ⓘ |
| migratoryBehavior | partial migrant ⓘ |
| nativeRange | North America ⓘ |
| nestingSite |
burrow in earthen bank
ⓘ
tunnel excavated in vertical soil bank ⓘ |
| order | Coraciiformes ⓘ |
| parentalCare |
both sexes feed young
ⓘ
both sexes incubate eggs ⓘ |
| phylum | Chordata ⓘ |
| plumage |
blue-gray upperparts
ⓘ
white collar around neck ⓘ white underparts ⓘ |
| roleInEcosystem |
indicator of aquatic ecosystem health
ⓘ
predator of small fish ⓘ |
| sexualDimorphism |
female has additional rufous band on belly
ⓘ
female more colorful than male ⓘ |
| taxonRank | species ⓘ |
| territorialBehavior | defends feeding and nesting territories ⓘ |
| threats |
habitat loss
ⓘ
water pollution ⓘ |
| vocalization | loud rattling call ⓘ |
| winteringRange |
Caribbean
ⓘ
Central America ⓘ southern United States ⓘ |
| yearDescribed | 1758 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Megaceryle alcyon Description of subject: Megaceryle alcyon, commonly known as the belted kingfisher, is a stocky, crested waterside bird of North America recognized for its loud rattling call and dramatic plunge-diving for fish.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.