Family Bee-eaters (Meropidae)
Least Concern
Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops viridis)
Taxonomy
French: Guêpier à gorge bleue German: Malaienspint Spanish: Abejaruco gorjiazul
Taxonomy:
Merops viridis
Linnaeus
, 1758,Java
.Relationships uncertain. Recent molecular phylogeny suggested that present species (with M. americanus) and M. leschenaulti are part of a subclade, with M. orientalis (including M. viridissimus and M. cyanophrys) as sister#R. Until recently, treated as conspecific with M. americanus (which see). Javan population sometimes considered subspecifically distinct on grounds of plumage, with race sumatranus consequently resurrected to include other populations; but detected differences appear to be related merely to age or wear. Monotypic.
Distribution:
SE China (including Hainan), S Thailand and Indochina (except much of Laos) S to Sumatra, Java, Borneo and N Natuna Is.
Descriptive notes
21–23·5 cm (with streamers, up to 9 cm more); 34–41 g. Crown and mantle dark mahogany, chin, throat and cheeks blue; back, wings and lower scapulars green... read more
Voice
Commonest call is a repeated rather weak rolling “prrrp”, both when perched and in flight. Also a... read more
Habitat
Beach-front scrub, dunes, pasture, farmland, suburban gardens, tin-tailings, sandy clearings and... read more
Food and feeding
Feeds on honeybees (Apis) and other hymenopterans, flies, beetles and bugs, some very large (up to 42 mm long); on Penang I,... read more
Breeding
Eggs laid from Feb to about Apr in Borneo, in mid-Apr to mid-Jul in mainland Malaysia, and in Jan, May, Sept and Oct in Java. Usually nests... read more
Movements
Resident but dispersive, nomadic or locally migratory in Java and Sumatra. Migratory farther N,... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Very little information regarding density and abundance of this species; it is widespread, with a huge latitudinal breeding range,... read more
Vagrancy of Blue-throated Bee-eater to southern India
Lack of its presence in bird trade and captivity together with patterns of its migration/nomadism like flocking with Blue-tailed Bee-eaters and long distance migration to China (similar in distance to southern India) triggers the single vagrant record from southern India to be accepted as of a genuine wild vagrant.
Manekkara, Sasidharan 2016. Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis in Kerala: An escapee, or a wild vagrant?. Indian BIRDS. 12: (2&3) 76–78