Asian Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) [XC208575]
by Albert Lastukhin & Sergei Karpeev from Bardez (near Calangute), North Goa, Goa, India (call)
Asian Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) [XC276714]
by Albert Lastukhin & Yuri Glushchenko from Ernakulam, Ernakulam, Kerala, India (call)
Nest
In an unlined cavity at the end of a tunnel in vertical mud banks.
Eggs (Guide)
Clutch Size: 3 - 7, usually 3 - 5
Color: glossy white
Dimensions: 19 x 17 mm (spherical)
Incubation: 14 days by both sexes
Subspecies
Relationships uncertain. No obvious close relatives, and affiliations with Bohm's Bee-eater (Merops boehmi) doubtful. Subspecies fall into three well-defined geographical groups: African viridissimus, flavoviridis and cleopatra; Arabian cyanophrys and muscatensis; and Asian beludschicus, orientalis and ferrugeiceps. Arabian group is the most distinctive and might well be regarded as a species in its own right; in that event, a superspecies of three, namely Merops viridissimus, Merops cyanophrys and Asian Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis), could be recognized. Subspecies flavoviridis perhaps invalid, as different throat colour thought possibly result of plumage being very fresh or, alternatively, worn.
Proposed subspecies nadjanus now included within muscatensis; birmanus is synonym of ferrugeiceps.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
viridissimus Swainson, 1837 - Senegal across to northern and central Ethiopia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, African Green Bee-eater (Merops viridissimus).
flavoviridis Niethammer, 1955 - North-eastern Chad (Ennedi) east to Red Sea coast in Sudan.
cleopatra Nicoll, 1910 - Nile Valley south to northern Sudan.
cyanophrys (Cabanis & Heine, 1860) - Southern Israel, and western and southern Arabian coasts. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Arabian Green Bee-eater (Merops cyanophrys).
muscatensis Sharpe, 1886 - Central Arabian plateau and eastern Arabia.
beludschicus Neumann, 1910 - Southern Iraq east to north-western India (western Rajasthan).
orientalis Latham, 1802 - Western India (Rann of Kachchh) east to Bangladesh and south to Sri Lanka.
ferrugeiceps Anderson, 1879 - North-eastern India (eastern Assam) and south-central China (Yunnan) to Vietnam.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet