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Summary. Van der Vliet & Jansen's (2015) review of the provenance of museum specimens and field sightings of Chattering Kingfisher Todiramphus t. tutus, intended to resolve long-standing confusion with respect to the identification and type locality of the species, led them to conclude that it never occurred on Tahiti. They also concluded that Society Kingfisher T. veneratus, previously considered to be sympatric with Chattering Kingfisher throughout the Society Islands, never occurred in the Leeward group of those islands. However, the historic reports and specimens of the naturalist R. P. Lesson of 1827, which were overlooked by van der Vliet & Jansen, and the published field records for T. tutus on Tahiti by D. T. Holyoak in 1972, which were dismissed by these authors, suggest their conclusions are misconceived.

We re-examined the putative type specimen of Society Kingfisher Todiramphus veneratus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NMW 50.633) and conclude based on plumage that it represents the taxon from Moorea, T. veneratus youngi Sharpe, 1892, rather than nominate T. veneratus veneratus from Tahiti. X-rays reveal that it was prepared using techniques common in the late 18th century, and that its preparation style matches that of other specimens collected during Cook’s three voyages. NMW 50.633 has been assumed to be the one, or one of a number of, specimen(s) used by Latham to describe and illustrate his ‘Venerated Kingfisher’ (present-day Society Kingfisher), which was the basis of the later valid introduction of the name Alcedo venerata by J. F. Gmelin. However, whereas the description and an unpublished illustration in Latham’s archives agree closely with veneratus from Tahiti, NMW 50.633 appears to represent Moorea youngi. While this finding does not compromise the definition of Society Kingfisher veneratus, it leaves it without a safely identified type specimen. We also examined a Moorea specimen in the National Museums Liverpool (LIVCM D2366) that is almost as old as NMW 50.633, but which X-rays suggest had a different origin than NMW 50.633.

We present evidence of cooperative breeding in Society Kingfishers (Todiramphus veneratus). Groups of three kingfishers were observed cooperatively excavating nest cavities, incubating, and provisioning young. Three bird groups also comprised half of visual observations recorded during island-wide point transect surveys that occurred during the onset of breeding. Society Kingfisher densities were an order of magnitude greater than other Pacific kingfisher populations, which may lead to resource saturation and evolution of cooperation in this species. Our results lend insight into cooperative behaviors and facilitate conservation of birds in French Polynesia.