The blue-bearded bee-eater (''Nyctyornis athertoni'') is a species of

bee-eater The bee-eaters are a group of birds in the family (biology), family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty-one species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characte ...

found in much of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and parts of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. This bee-eater is found in forest clearings. It is found mainly in the Malayan region but extends west into peninsular

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The blue feathers of its throat are elongated and often fluffed giving it its name. They have a loud call but are not as gregarious or active as the smaller bee-eaters, and their square ended tail lacks the typical "wires" made up of the shafts of the longer central tail feathers found in many other bee-eaters.

Description

This is probably the largest species of the bee-eater family. Adults measure in length and weigh . This species has a large sickle shaped bill and the square ended tail lacks the "wires" that are typical of smaller bee-eaters. The bird is grass green with a turquoise forehead, face and chin. The feathers of the throat are elongated giving it a bearded appearance when they are fluffed out. The belly is yellowish to olive with streaks of green or blue. The

peninsular India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the Union territories of In ...

n populations are said to be paler green than the

northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

n populations. Although males and females appear similar, the blue throat feathers of the male show higher ultraviolet reflectivity than those of the female. The species is named after Lieut. John Atherton (

13th Light Dragoons The 13th Hussars (previously the 13th Light Dragoons) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First World War but then amalgamated ...

, died in 1827) a nephew of Mrs. P. J. Selby who obtained a specimen of the bird. Selby described the species in ''"Illustrations of Ornithology"'' published along with Sir William Jardine in 1828. Jardine and Selby described it in the Illustrations of Ornithology (Series 1, Volume 2 part 4, November 1828, plate 58) and the type locality (holotype is in the Selby Collection, UMZC, 25/Mer/7/b/2) was said to be Cachar District

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

by E. C. Stuart Baker but Sir N B Kinnear re-designated Bangalore as the type locality for the species based on the fact that Atherton was posted in Bangalore when he wrote to Selby and noted that he was helped by a French collector (thought to be Leschenault). However the species is rare in that region. Atherton informed Selby that the bird was very rare, found in the thickest jungles, feeding at night and noisy with "''curr, curr''" calls. The nominate form is found in

and parts of mainland

while ''brevicaudatus'' is an insular population from Hainan. A subspecies ''bartletti'' from northeastern India, described by W. N. Koelz, is usually considered part of the nominate population.

Distribution and habitat

This species is found in a variety of habitats mostly at medium altitudes but below 2000m altitude. Thin to fairly thick forest in medium elevations with clearings is the typical habitat. It is found singly or in small groups of up to three and is very patchily distributed. Their presence in an area can easily be missed. It has been reported from the hill regions of the Satpuras, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Nilgiris, Chota Nagpur and from the Sub-Himalayan forests.

Behaviour and ecology

This bird has a loud call, but does not call frequently. It is also not as active as the smaller bee-eaters. The calls include cackling hornbill like calls, a dry "Kit-tik... Kit-tik" in a series or hollow nasal "kyao" calls. Pairs may engage in duets of cackling and rattling which ends in short purring notes. The flight is undulating and very barbet-like. The breeding season is February to August in India and courtship involves ritual feeding, bowing and tail fanning. Nest excavation may begin a month before the laying of eggs. The nest is a deep tunnel in a mud bank within which four very spherical and white eggs are laid. The species appears to feed mainly on bees. It exploits the defensive behavior of

Giant honey bee ''Apis dorsata'', the rock bee or giant honey bee, is a honey bee of South and Southeast Asia. They are typically around long and nests are mainly built in exposed places far off the ground, like on tree limbs, under cliff overhangs, and under ...

(''

Apis dorsata ''Apis dorsata'', the rock bee or giant honey bee, is a honey bee of South and Southeast Asia. They are typically around long and nests are mainly built in exposed places far off the ground, like on tree limbs, under cliff overhangs, and under ...

'') colonies by provoking the mass release of guard bees which are then caught in the air and eaten as they pursue the bird. Although mainly foraging using aerial sallies, it is known to sometimes glean from bark. They may sometimes associate with

mixed-species foraging flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock (birds), flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while fora ...

s. Birds have been seen at flowers of ''

Erythrina ''Erythrina'' is a genus of plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, with the larger species growing up to in height. These species ...

'' and '' Salmalia'' although it is unclear whether they fed on nectar or insects attracted to the flowers. A blood parasite ''Leucocytozoon nyctyornis'' has been described from this species and feather parasites in the genus ''

Brueelia ''Brueelia'' (formerly spelled ''Brüelia'') is a genus of bird lice in the family Philopteridae that infest Passerine (perching) birds. Lice in ''Brueelia'' are usually host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for p ...

'' are also known.

References

External links

Internet Bird Collection

Calls

Specimen photos
{{Taxonbar, from=Q882415 blue-bearded bee-eater Birds of Bhutan Birds of India Birds of Nepal Birds of Hainan Birds of Yunnan Birds of Southeast Asia blue-bearded bee-eater Taxa named by Sir William Jardine blue-bearded bee-eater Articles containing video clips