[2][3][4] The first formal description of the green-and-rufous kingfisher was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae.

[5] Linnaeus based his description on George Edwards's "Spotted King's-Fisher" but mistakenly gave the type locality as India occidentali instead of Guiana.

[10] Two subspecies of green-and-rufous kingfisher are recognized, the nominate C. i. inda (Linnaeus, 1766) and C. i. chocoensis Todd, 1943.

The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are pinkish to dark gray.

Adult females are similar with the addition of a wide band of green with white speckles across their upper breast and more pale spotting on their upperparts.

Juveniles resemble adult females with even heavier spotting on the upperparts; both sexes have a green breastband though the male's is thin.

The third section of its range is along a narrow strip of southeastern Brazil from Bahia south to Santa Catarina.

Its diet includes small fish such as those of families Characidae, Cichlidae, and Cyprinodontidae, crabs, shrimps, and aquatic insects.

It has a variety of calls including a "chip-chip-chip", a "hard, rolling 'drrrt'", a "crackling 'trit-trit-trit'", and a "twitter followed by rapidly repeated, low 'too-too-too-too'".