Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Merops leschenaulti Vieillot, 1817

≈21 cmLength27 gWeight

It has a chestnut crown, yellow face and throat, a single black line through the eye, and a mainly green body.

Busiest months: February–March · Most records: India, Thailand, Sri Lanka

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Crown and nape dark chestnut
Face and throat yellow, with black eyestripe
Mainly green overall; rump and lower belly blue
Bill slender, curved, and black

Male, female and young

Sexes similar; juvenile is duller, with green forehead and forecrown.

Where and when it's recorded

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater has been recorded at 434 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 13 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PookodeIndia1,135 records
KalatangIndia834 records
Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural HistoryIndia702 records

More places

Khao Yai NPThailand676 records
Kaeng Krachan NP – Baan Maka Nature LodgeThailand659 records
Chidyatapu Biological ParkIndia635 records
Thattekkad Bird SanctuaryIndia570 records
Mahananda WLS – Rongtong and Shivakhola ForestIndia552 records
Yala National ParkSri Lanka538 records
Kaeng Krachan NPThailand516 records

Countries and regions with the most records

India Thailand Sri Lanka Nepal Cambodia Vietnam Bangladesh Indonesia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The chestnut-headed bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti), or bay-headed bee-eater, is a bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds on the Indian subcontinent and adjoining regions, ranging from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka across Southeast Asia to Indonesia.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater?

The Chestnut-headed Bee-eater is about ≈21 cm long and weighs around 27 g.

Where does the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: Himalayas from northwestern India and southwestern India and Sri Lanka to Andaman Islands, southern China, Vietnam, and northern Malay Peninsula; disjunctly Java and Bali. It is most often recorded in India, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

When is the best time to see the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in February and March (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater as Least Concern.

What does the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater in?

It belongs to the family Bee-eaters (Meropidae), order Coraciiformes.

At a glance

Length: ≈21 cm
Weight: 27 g
Habitat: Woodland
Diet: Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle: Perches in trees
Migration: Resident (barely migrates)
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 106 mm
Tail: 80 mm
Bill: 38 mm
Tarsus: 11 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Oriental: Himalayas from northwestern India and southwestern India and Sri Lanka to Andaman Islands, southern China, Vietnam, and northern Malay Peninsula; disjunctly Java and Bali

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 1