Asian Green Bee-eater

Alternative name: Little Green Bee-eater

Nominate Subspecies : breeding pair, male (right) giving food to female
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Basai, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, 24 April 2017

Merops orientalis

Identification

Subspecies M. o. cyanophrys
Photo © by Simonph
Dubai, UAE, December 2004

16-18cm (6¼-7 in)

• Green upper parts

• Head and underpart colours vary according to subspecies

• Green wings
• Black beak
  

Sexes similar

Distribution

Africa, Middle East and Asia:
Northern Africa: Libya, Egypt
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda
Middle East: Israel, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran
Asia: Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand

Taxonomy

Juvenile, subspecies M. o. ferrugeiceps
Photo © by Nook
Na Ngua, Phetchabun, Thailand, June 2017

Subspecies

Subspecies M. o. ferrugeiceps
Photo © by nothinghill
Thailand, January 2018

There are 9 subspecies^[1]:

• M. o. viridissimus :

• Savanna of Senegal to Eritrea, Ethiopia and western Sudan

• M. o. flavoviridis:

• Subdesert steppes of Chad to Red Sea coast of Sudan

• M. o. cleopatra:

• Nile Valley (Lake Nasser to delta)

• M. o. cyanophrys:

• Arabian Peninsula

• M. o. najdanus:

• Central Arabian plateau

• M. o. beludschicus:

• From the north end of Persian Gulf to Baluchistan and western India

• M. o. orientalis:

• western India (Rann of Kutch) east to Bangladesh and south through the Indian peninsula

• M. o. ceylonicus

• Sri Lanka

• M. o. ferrugeiceps:

• From Assam and Myanmar to Vietnam

Habitat

Around water bodies, river sides, open cultivated areas, scrub forests, parks and gardens, open woodland.

Behaviour

Diet

They catch bees and other insects in flight and retun to the same perch to batter them to remove the sting before eating.

Breeding

Nests are made in a tunnel in sandy banks. The 4 to 8 spherical white eggs are incubated by both the male and the female.

Vocalisation

Recording by Alok Tewari
Nazafgarh Wetlands, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, March-2015
A pair, ssp. orientalis, calling while examining a mud-embankment for possible nesting site, early summer-time.

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

• 

  Juvenile, nominate subspecies
  Photo © by Alok Tewari
  Manger Bani Forest, Aravali Hills, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, June-2018

• 

  Juvenile developing extended tail feathers
  Photo © by Shantilal Varu
  Kutch, Gujarat, India, 4 August 2019

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. AvianWeb
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Asian Green Bee-eater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Asian_Green_Bee-eater

External Links

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