Green bee-eaters

I come across lots of green bee-eaters whenever I visit to my in-laws village, Shiroda in Konkan region of Maharashtra. They are mostly found in farm lands and small shrubby areas. Their typical swift movement catches my attention while they are in farms.

The body structure of this bird is slim and they have a long tail. Their head portion is light brownish or complete light green. They have a small pointed beak which is used for preying small insects. The overall green looks with crimson eyes covered by a thin black strip makes them photogenic.

While taking a stroll in the village, I found them mostly in farm lands, on electric wires and sometimes on small branches. These birds seems to be social in nature as they like to be in small groups, sometimes on electric wires sitting close to each other enjoying the breeze or cold weather.

For meals, green bee-eater depends highly on honey bees. However they also eat wasps, ants and other small insects. Most of the insects preying is done on the fly. It is known that the green bee-eater species are omnivorous and hence sometimes depends upon small fruits to fulfill their appetite.

According to wikipedia, the green bee-eater is also known as Merops Orientalis and sometimes called the little green bee-eater. These birds are large in population and widely found across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and the Gambia to Ethiopia, the Nile valley, Western Arabia and Asia through India to Vietnam ^[1].

If you are on a trip to Konkan, look out for these birds in farm lands or on electric wires.  Enjoy this green beauty of nature 🙂

Here are some photos of green bee-eaters captured by me.

References:
1. Wikipedia – Green bee-eater

Read more on Indian birds
1. Birds of India – Part 1
2. Birds of India – Part 2
3. Indian Golden Oriole
4. Black-rumped Flameback Woodpecker
5. Common tailorbird