GREEN
BEE EATER... (Merops orientalis) (sometimes Little Green
Bee-eater) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family. It is resident but
prone to seasonal movements and is found widely distributed across sub-Saharan
Africa from Senegal and The Gambia to Ethiopia, the Nile valley, western Arabia and Asia through India to Vietnam.
They are mainly insect eaters and they are found in grassland, thin scrub and
forest often quite far from water.
It is about 9 inches
(16–18 cm) long with about 2 inches made up by the elongated central
tail-feathers. The sexes are not visually distinguishable.
The calls is a nasal
trill tree-tree-tree-tree, usually given in flight. his 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.
They are mostly see in
the plains but can sometimes be found up to 5000 or 6000 feet in the Himalayas.
Like other species in
the genus, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and
ants, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. Before
swallowing prey, a bee-eater removes stings and breaks the exoskeleton of the
prey by repeatedly thrashing it on the perch.
[INFO:WIKIPEDIA]
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