Red-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis amictus Scientific name definitions

27–31 cm; male 68–92 g, female 61–70 g. Male green above and paler green below; crown lilac of an extraordinary hue, intense and with pearly sheen; bases of lilac feathers buff or red, and from underside tips of feathers appear red, not lilac; narrow border of small, thin, stiff, forward-curving, pale azure feathers around base of bill; throat feathers long and broad, bases grey and dark olive-green, only tips, with long radiating barbs, are red; rectrices rather stiff, with shafts wide proximally and ivory or pale yellow; upperside of tail green, underside yellow with black tip; bill robust, arched, strongly decurved, blackish, with proximal quarter of lower mandible lead-grey; mouth yellowish; iris bright orange. Female like male, but lilac crown patch smaller; forehead and hindcrown vermilion and green respectively, not lilac. Immature uniform green but for warm buff undersides of wings, yellowish underside of tail, and a few pale blue feathers around base of bill.

S Myanmar (S from Dawna Range) and SW Thailand (Petchaburi district) S through Malay Peninsula to Johore, including Penang I; also Sumatra and Bangka I, and throughout lowland Borneo.

Airborne insects : wasps, hornets, bees including carpenter-bees (Xylocopa), cicadas, beetles, crickets and ants. Recorded bringing a gliding lizard (Draco sumatranus) to the nest (1 Foley, C. and Li, Y.D. (2011). Notes on the nesting of the Red-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis amictus in Peninsular Malaysia. BirdingASIA. 15: 63–67. Close ). Hunts from elevated leafy perch overlooking open airspace, by flying out after passing insect; sits almost motionless for long period, then moves to new vantage point.

A fast, descending series of 5–10 hoarse notes “KA-Ka-ka-ka-ka-ko-kow” with emphasis on initial notes. Sometimes given just once, at other times repeated at intervals for long periods. Also low-pitched, frog-like calls “grwaa” or “ko-ko-grwaa”, and a gruff, repeated “grow..grow..grow..” (2 Fry, C. H., K. Fry, and A. Harris (1992). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Eggs in Aug, Jan and Feb and young in Mar–Jun; most clutches have been found in Feb. Excavates nest-hole in earth in roadside bank, in sandy or stiff soil by small stream in dense forest or in cutting or sawyer’s pit; burrow c. 1·2 m long. Clutch up to five eggs, generally three; both sexes thought to incubate. Nestling period, 31–34 days (1 Foley, C. and Li, Y.D. (2011). Notes on the nesting of the Red-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis amictus in Peninsular Malaysia. BirdingASIA. 15: 63–67. Close ).