Manus Dwarf-Kingfisher

The Manus Dwarf-Kingfisher is endemic to the island of Manus in Papua New Guinea. Until recently, Manus was rarely visited by birdwatchers and ornithologists and, as a result, there were apparently no documented records of the kingfisher from 2002 until 2022.

The Manus Dwarf-Kingfisher is considered Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Although several sightings of the Manus Dwarf-Kingfisher were reported in the early 2000s (in eBird and Observation.org, for example), there were apparently no documented records of the species from June 2002 (when a specimen was collected) until October 2022 when a male and female were photographed by Lorand Szucs. More recently, there have been multiple photographic records of the kingfisher, for example in May and June of 2024 (several photos are now in eBird). Since the Manus Dwarf-Kingfisher was regularly seen by and familiar to local residents on Manus throughout this period, the species is an example of a bird that was lost from documented, published records as opposed to being possibly extinct.