Abejaruco Esmeralda Oriental

Identificación

Like other bee-eaters, this species is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is about 9 inches (230 mm) long with about 2 inches (51 mm) made up by the elongated central tail-feathers. The sexes are not visually distinguishable. The entire plumage is bright green and tinged with blue especially on the chin and throat. The crown and upper back are tinged with golden rufous. The flight feathers are rufous washed with green and tipped with blackish. A fine black line runs in front of and behind the eye. The iris is crimson and the bill is black while the legs are dark grey. The feet are weak with the three toes joined at the base. Southeast Asian birds have rufous crown and face, and green underparts, whereas Arabian beludschicus has a green crown, blue face and bluish underparts. The wings are green and the beak is black. The elongated tail feathers are absent in juveniles. Sexes are alike.<p>The calls is a nasal trill tree-tree-tree-tree, usually given in flight.<p>Leucistic individuals have been noted.

Taxonomía

The Asian green bee-eater was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 using its current binomial name. Several populations have been designated as subspecies:<p>The African green bee-eater (M. viridissimus, along with its subspecies M. v. viridissimus, M. v. cleopatra, and M. v. flavoviridis) and Arabian green bee-eater (M. cyanophrys, along with its subspecies M. c. cyanophrys and M. c. muscatensis) were formerly considered conspecific, but were split as distinct species by the IOC in 2021.<p>A study of species within the genus Merops based on plumage characteristics found that most of the subspecies of M. o. orientalis grouping together with the most similar species being Merops leschenaulti and subspecies M. o. ferrugeiceps appeared closer to that group.

Nombre científico

Merops orientalis

Autoridad

Latham, 1801

Orden

Coraciiformes

Familia

Meropidae

Género

Merops

Distribución y hábitat

This is an abundant and fairly tame bird, familiar throughout its range. It is a bird which breeds in open country with bushes. In Africa and Arabia it is found in arid areas, but is more diverse in its habitats further east. This species often hunts from low perches, maybe only a metre or less high. It readily makes use of fence wires and electric wires. Unlike some other bee-eaters, they can be found well away from water.<p>They are mostly seen in the plains but can sometimes be found up to 5,000 or 6,000 feet (1,500 or 1,800 m) in the Himalayas. They are resident in the lowlands of South Asia but some populations move seasonally but the patterns are not clear, moving away to drier regions in the rainy season and to warmer regions in winter. In parts of Pakistan, they are summer visitors.

Migración

Migrantes completos

Comportamiento

Patrón migratorio: Migrantes completos.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional: en aumento.

Tendencia poblacional

en aumento