Asian Green Bee-eater - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Little Green Bee-eater

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

Merops orientalis

Identification

16-18cm (6¼-7 in)

• Green upper parts

• Head and underpart colours vary according to subspecies

• Green wings
• Black beak
  

Sexes similar

Distribution

Subspecies cyanophrys
Photo by Simonph
Dubai, UAE, December 2004

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

Subspecies

Immature, Ssp. orientalis
Photo by Alok Tewari
Gurgaon, Haryana, India, June 2015

There are 8 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:

• From the Rann of Kutch to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

• M. o. ferrugeiceps:

• From Assam and Myanmar to Vietnam

Habitat

Juvenile, subspecies ferrugeiceps
Photo by Nook
Na Ngua, Phetchabun, Thailand, June 2017

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

Photo by nothinghill
Thailand, January 2018

<flashmp3>green_bee_eater_call.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
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.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://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

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