绿喉蜂虎种

保护

中国国家重点保护动物等级：二级

亚种

绿喉蜂虎云南亚种（学名：Merops orientalis ferrugeiceps）。在中国大陆，分布于云南等地。该物种的模式产地在云南和缅甸。

The Asian green bee-eater (Merops orientalis), also known as the little green bee-eater, and just green bee-eater, is a bird species in the bee-eater family. It is resident or with short-distance seasonal movements, and is found widely distributed across Asia from coastal southern Iran east through the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam. Populations in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that were formerly assigned to this species (under the name green bee-eater) are now considered to be distinct species, the African green bee-eater and the Arabian green bee-eater. They are mainly insect eaters and they are found in grassland, thin scrub and forest often quite far from water. Several regional plumage variations are known and several subspecies have been named.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Asian green bee-eater was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 using its current binomial name. Four subspecies are currently accepted:

The African green bee-eater (M. viridissimus, with three subspecies M. v. viridissimus, M. v. cleopatra, and M. v. flavoviridis) and Arabian green bee-eater (M. cyanophrys, with two subspecies M. c. cyanophrys and M. c. muscatensis) were formerly considered conspecific, but were split as distinct species by the IOC in 2021.

Description

Like other bee-eaters, this species is a slender, richly coloured bird. It is 16–18 centimetres (6.3–7.1 in) long excluding the elongated central tail-feathers, which are an additional 7 cm (2.8 in) long. The entire plumage is bright green, tinged with blue especially on the chin and throat, while the crown and upper back are tinged with golden rufous. The flight feathers are rufous washed with green and tipped with blackish. A fine black eyestripe line runs in front of and behind the eye, and there is also a slender black crescent at the top of the breast below the throat. The iris is crimson and the bill is black, and the legs are dark grey. The feet are weak, with the three toes joined at the base. Southeast Asian birds have rufous crown and face, and green underparts, whereas the western subspecies M. o. beludschicus has a greener crown, bluer face and bluish underparts. In flight, the wings are bronzed coppery-green above, and coppery-orange below. The juveniles are paler and duller overall, lack the elongated tail feathers and black throat crescent, and have a yellow-tinged (not blue-toned) throat. The sexes are alike.

The calls is a nasal trill tree-tree-tree-tree, usually given in flight.

Leucistic individuals have been noted.

Distribution and habitat

This is an abundant and fairly tame bird, familiar throughout its range. It is a bird which breeds in open country with bushes. This species often hunts from low perches, maybe only a metre or less high. It readily makes use of fence wires and electric wires. Unlike some other bee-eaters, they can be found well away from water.

They are mostly seen in the plains but can sometimes be found up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in the Himalayas. They are resident in the lowlands of South Asia but some populations move seasonally but the patterns are not clear, moving away to drier regions in the rainy season and to warmer regions in winter. In parts of Pakistan, they are summer visitors.

Behaviour and ecology

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. Migration is not known but they make seasonal movements in response to rainfall. These birds are somewhat sluggish in the mornings and may be found huddled next to each other on wires sometimes with their bills tucked in their backs well after sunrise. They sand-bathe more frequently than other bee-eater species and will sometimes bathe in water by dipping into water in flight. They are usually seen in small groups and often roost communally in large numbers (200–300). The birds move excitedly at the roost site and call loudly, often explosively dispersing before settling back to the roost tree.

The little green bee-eater is also becoming common in urban and sub-urban neighborhoods, and has been observed perching on television antennae, only to launch into a brief, zig-zag flight formation to catch an insect, then return to the same perch and consume the meal. This behaviour is generally observed between the hours of 7:00 and 8:00am, and after 4:00pm.