Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

About the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

The chestnut-headed bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti), or bay-headed bee-eater, is a bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds on the Indian subcontinent and adjoining regions, ranging from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka across Southeast Asia to 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. It is 18–20 cm long and lacks the two elongated central tail feathers possessed by most of its relatives.

The chestnut-headed bee-eater was formally described in 1817 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot under the current binomial name Merops leschenaulti. He specified the locality as Java. This was an error as this species does not occur there, and the locality has been designated as Sri Lanka. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the French naturalist and collector Jean-Baptiste Leschenault de La Tour who had brought Vieillot's specimen to France.

Three subspecies are recognised: M... Wikipedia →