Chestnut-Headed Bee-Eater is one of the bee-eater birds found in India. Out of the 26 bee-eaters found in the world, 5 are found in the southern Indian state of Kerala. They are Green Bee-Eater, Blue-tailed Bee-Eater, Blue-Cheeked Bee-Eater, Blue-bearded Bee-Eater and this one. These birds belong to the family Meropidae, which comes under the order Coraciiformes. These are generally colorful and beautiful.
Photo 1: Exif – f/5.6, 1/640 sec., ISO 400, +0.7 step, Nikon D7100, Nikkor 200-500mm. Date – Feb 24, 2016. Location – Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala.
It was around noon time when I took this photo. And this was the only bee-eater I could find during that trek. It was perched on this isolated branch, under bright sunlight, in search of insects.
More about Chestnut-Headed Bee-Eater (Merops leschenaulti)
This bird is a common one in Kerala, especially nearer to the forests. It can often be found perched on branches at about eye level, as in photo 1. Sometimes they are found in groups, perched side by side. From these branches, they make occasional dives to the ground to catch insects and alike.
As the name itself suggests, its head, nape and upper back are chestnut colored. The throat region is yellow colored. Below this there is again a dark chestnut color which is curved in shape. Between the yellow throat and chestnut face there is a thin black lining, running just under the eyes. The iris is red colored. The under side of the body is light green which extends to tail and is pointed. The wings and some parts of the upper side including tail is dark green There is a blue color in the middle which sometimes extends to tail.The long and curved bills are black in color.
Their main food is insects like bees, and are generally found in open areas with smaller trees nearer to forests, rather than thickly forested areas.
