From Opus

Photo by MikeB
Location: Cuango valley, northern Angola, March 2005

Merops persicus

[edit] Identification

24-26 cm. Green, blue sides to face, black eye stripe, yellow and brown throat, black bill, two elongated central tail feathers.
Sexes alike.

[edit] Distribution

Morocco, Algeria, eastern Turkey to Kazakhstan; winters in tropical Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are 2 subspecies:

• M. p. chrysocercus

• North-western Africa (south of the Atlas Mountains); Senegambia to Lake Chad

• M. p. persicus

• Egypt to Lake Balkhash and Hindu Kush; winters to southern Africa

[edit] Habitat

Desert oases, coastal mangroves, scrub, reed beds and farmland.

[edit] Behaviour

They hawk from exposed perches and overhead power lines.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes dragonflies, bees, wasps and hornets.

[edit] Breeding

They nest colonially in sandy banks, making a long tunnel. They lay 4-8 spherical white eggs which are incubated by both parents.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links