Green Bee-eater

Latin Name: 
Merops orientalis
Category: 
Size: 
21cm
Description: 

Sexes alike. Bright green plumage; red-brown wash about head; pale blue on chin and throat, bordered below by black gorget; slender, curved black beak; rufous wash on black-tipped flight feathers; elongated central tail feathers distinctive. Small parties; perches freely on bare branches and overhead telegraph
wires; attends to grazing cattle, along with drongos, cattle egrets and mynas; also seen in city parks and garden; launches graceful sorties after winged insects; batters prey against perch before swallowing.

Habitat: 
open country and cultivation; light forests.
Food: 
mostly winged insects; confirmed nuisance to the honey industry.
Distribution: 
subcontinent, south of about 1,800m in outer Himalaya.
Call: 
Call Description: 
noisy; cheerful trilling notes, chiefly uttered on wing.
National Status: