The Chestnut-headed Bee-eater is a typically colorful member of the small Meropidae family. It lives throughout southern Asia from India eastward. It can also be found in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
They tend to live in groups and eat primarily insects which they snag in a short flight from a perch.
Classification:
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Meropidae
Genus: Merops
Species: M. leschenaulti
Photos:
จาบคาหัวสีส้ม Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
"Kamphaengsaen, Nakhonpathom, Thailand."
Photo courtesy of somchai@2008
chestnut headed bee eater
"Like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green, with blue on the rump and lower belly. Its face and throat are yellow with a black eye stripe, and the crown and nape are rich chestnut. The thin curved bill is black. Sexes are alike, but young birds are duller. Forehead, crown, nape, upper back and ear-coverts bright chestnut ; lores black, continued as a band under the eye and ear-coverts ; wing-coverts, lower back and tertiaries green, the latter tipped with bluish; rump and upper tail-coverts pale shining blue; primaries and secondaries green, rufous on the inner webs, and all tipped dusky ; central tail-feathers bluish on the outer, and green on the inner webs ; the others green, margined on the inner web with brown and all tipped dusky ; sides of face, chin and throat yellow ; below this a broad band of chestnut extending to the sides of the neck and meeting the chestnut of the upper plumage ; below this again a short distinct band of black and then an ill-defined band of yellow ; remainder of lower plumage green, tipped with blue, especially on the vent and under tail-coverts."
Photo courtesy of Naseer Ommer Read the rest of this entry »
