The Megaceryle kingfishers were formerly placed in the genus Ceryle with the Pied Kingfisher, but the latter is genetically closer to the American green kingfishers.
Kingfisher | Rose-ringed Parakeet | Kingfisher Airlines | Common Kingfisher | Belted Kingfisher | Ringed Kingfisher | kingfisher | Collared Kingfisher | Rufous-collared Kingfisher | Micronesian Kingfisher | African Dwarf Kingfisher | Saimaa ringed seal | Kingfisher Sky | Woodland Kingfisher | water kingfisher | Vanuatu Kingfisher | Tree Kingfisher | tree kingfisher | Sacred Kingfisher | Kingfisher Red | Kingfisher feather art: tian-tsui | Kingfisher Country Park | Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open | '''Halcyon''' Kingfisher | Grey-headed Kingfisher | Eye-ringed Flatbill | American green kingfisher |
The Ringed Kingfisher, Megaceryle torquata, a more distant relative, also occurs on the same rivers, but is twice as heavy as the Amazon Kingfisher.
The Belted Kingfisher's closest living relative is the Ringed Kingfisher (M. torquata), and these two in all probability originated from an African Megaceryle which colonized the Americas.
The underparts may be white or rufous, and all forms have a contrasting breast band except male Ringed Kingfisher.
Not longer than 5 million years ago - possibly as recently as 2.9 million years ago -, an Old World giant kingfisher became the ancestor of the Belted and Ringed Kingfishers, and later, another species related to the Pied Kingfisher became the ancestor of the Chloroceryle green kingfishers after colonizing the Americas.