The Chestnu t-headed
Bee-eater, Merops leschenaulti is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater
family Meropidae. It is a resident breeder in southern Asia from India
east to southeast Asia and Indonesia.
This species, 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.
This species is 18–20 cm long; it lacks the two elongated central
tail feathers possessed by most of its relatives.
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.
The Javan sub-species, M. l. quinticolor, differs in having the whole
space from the bill down to the black pectoral band pure yellow without
any chestnut, and in having the tail blue.
Race andamanensis found in the Andamans is slightly larger than the
Indian race.Iris crimson ; bill black ; legs dusky black ; claws dark
horn-colour.
Habits
in Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India.
This is a bird which breeds in sub-tropical open woodland, often near
water. It is most common in highland areas. As the name suggests,
bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and
hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.
These bee-eaters are gregarious, nesting colonially in sandy banks.
They make a relatively long tunnel in which the 5 to 6 spherical white
eggs are laid. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs. These
birds also feed and roost communally. The call is similar to that of the
European Bee-eater.
Its scientific name commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste
Leschenault de la Tour. |
