science

Water kingfisher

Water kingfisher is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Water kingfisher rather than just read about it. In short: The water kingfishers or Cerylinae are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers, and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers. All six American species are in this subfamily.

Key takeaways

Water kingfisher belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Water kingfisher to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Water kingfisher from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The water kingfishers or Cerylinae are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers, and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers. All six American species are in this subfamily. These are all specialist fish-eating species, unlike many representatives of the other two subfamilies, and it is likely that they are all descended from fish-eating kingfishers which founded populations in the New World. It was believed that the entire group evolved in the Americas, but this seems not to be true. The original ancestor possibly evolved in Africa – at any rate in the Old World – and the Chloroceryle species are the youngest ones.

Phylogeny Evidence from molecular phylogenetic studies suggests that the Cerylinae originated in Asia and have colonised the New World on two occasions: the first time was around 8 million years ago by the Chloroceryle and the second time was around 1.9 million years ago by the common ancestor of the ringed kingfisher and the belted kingfisher in the genus Megaceryle. The subfamily Cerylinae contains nine kingfisher species and is divided into three genera:

References

Fry, K & Fry, H. C. (1999): Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers, new edition. Christopher Helm Publishers. ISBN 0-7136-5206-3 Moyle, Robert G. (2006): A Molecular Phylogeny of Kingfishers (Alcedinidae) With Insights into Early Biogeographic History. Auk 123(2): 487–499. HTML fulltext (without images)

External links Water kingfisher videos on the Internet Bird Collection

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Water kingfisher

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Water kingfisher claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Water kingfisher before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Water kingfisher ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Water kingfisher

In research: Water kingfisher appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Water kingfisher in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Water kingfisher is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cerylinae, Kingfishers, Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Water kingfisher outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Water kingfisher in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Water kingfisher means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Water kingfisher out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Water kingfisher in simple terms?

The water kingfishers or Cerylinae are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers, and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers. All six American species are in this subfamily.

Why does Water kingfisher matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Water kingfisher?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Water kingfisher.