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The blue-throated bee-eater (''Merops viridis'') is a species of
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in the
bee-eater The bee-eaters are a group of non-passerine birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by ...
family. They are found throughout
southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
in subtropical or tropical
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
forests. Their diet consists mostly of
bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...
s,
wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
s, and
dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...
. Blue-throated bee-eaters are small with colorful plumage consisting of a red
nape The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from the Medieval Latin rendering of the Arabic , "spinal marrow"). The corresponding adjective is ''nuchal'', as in the term ''nu ...
, dark green wings, light green breast, and their signature blue throat. Juvenile plumage contain dark green head and wings and light green breasts, only developing their full plumage in adulthood. They have a rich variety of
songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...
and calls, including longcalls which allow them to communicate long distances in the forest. Blue-throated bee-eaters practice asynchronous
brooding Egg incubation is the process by which an egg, of oviparous (egg-laying) animals, develops an embryo within the egg, after the egg's formation and ovipositional release. Egg incubation is done under favorable environmental conditions, possib ...
, which means that chicks hatch at different times, often pairing with siblicide. Older chicks are not only larger and able to withstand larger wounds from other siblings, but also have the ability to monopolize the food they are fed by parents. There has been several observations of
migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
between islands in southeast Asia or onto mainland of Asia. One notable seasonal spring migration occurs from Sumatra, across the Strait of Malacca, and ending on the west coast of Malaysia. They also migrate from southeast Asia to breeding grounds in western China during breeding season. Conservation status of the blue-throated bee-eaters is of "least concern" due to their large distribution and stability of its population as of 2016. However, deforestation may be its biggest threat, destroying its habitat and decreasing other bird diversities.


Taxonomy and systematics

Blue-throated bee-eaters are part of the family
Meropidae The bee-eaters are a group of non-passerine birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by ...
, which are the bee-eaters, including 27 other birds. Another alternate common name they have is the chestnut-headed bee-eater.


Description

Adult blue-throated bee-eaters grow to around 21 cm, with an additional 9 cm including tail streamers. They weigh around 34 to 41 grams. Adults have spectacular plumage with a red crown and nape, dark green wings, blue tail, light green breast, white belly, and the signature blue throat. Juveniles develop their full plumage later, with mostly green coloration all over their body. They have a dark green head and wings and light green breast. Both adults and juveniles have black eye patches. Eye color can range between red and brown, or a combination.


Vocalizations

Blue-throated bee-eaters make a combination of vocalizations characterized as longcalls, alarm calls, chirps, low chirps, purrs, sharp coos, trills, and feeding calls. Longcalls have been observed to communicate long distances and are recognizable by their volume and intensity. A longcall is performed either during flight or on a perch by stretching and pointing their bill upwards, known as a “longcall” posture. Chirps are short and sharp with regular intervals, often used during digs.


Distribution and habitat

They have a wide distribution ranging from southeastern China to the Greater Sundas Islands. The most concentrated distribution is found in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, southern
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
, and southern
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. Other locations with greater dispersal include
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
and
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
. They live in lower elevations between 0–670 meters. Their habitat includes a wide variety of flat plains, such as farmland, suburban gardens, riversides, dunes, and sandy clearings. In the winter, some blue-throated bee-eaters move to forest canopies and saltwater channels of mangrove forests. They often dig burrows horizontally into flat ground, allowing easier access compared to burrows in sand cliffs of other bee-eaters. Colony sizes range from 50 to 200 pairs or living completely solitary in the open country.


Behavior and ecology


Breeding

Blue-throated bee-eaters have a generation rate of around 6.2 years. They practice asynchronous brooding, meaning parents begin brooding at different times. This results in hatching of chicks at different times. The eggs hatch over a period of ten days with an average spread of 4.43 ±12.15 days. The sequence and timing of the hatching of chicks is correlated with size, with the first-born chick having the greatest mass. Parents lay two to seven eggs with a survival of zero to three chicks raised to fledging. The chicks normally die in order, starting from youngest and smallest. The observed death rate in chicks was largely caused by sibling attacks by utilizing a sharp hook on the upper bill, later lost in development, and inflicting wounds on the naked head of other chicks. Those chicks who are older have time to grow more contour feathers, protecting them from damaging attacks. Siblicide is common among other birds to increase the larger and older chick's survival with greater access to food by the parents. Sibling attacks are more common among birds when food is scarce and monopolized. In the blue-throated bee-eater's case, insects are delivered one by one to the chicks, making food easily monopolized to chicks with the greater advantage. Increasing brood size did not increase the survival of the chicks. Decreasing body mass is correlated with increasing wounds and scars found on the individual chicks, which increased the likelihood of death.


Food and feeding

They predominantly feed on flying insects such as bees and wasps. Other insects caught include flies, beetles, and other bugs up to 42mm. A large percentage of the blue-throated bee eater's diet consists of
dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...
with highest success rate of their catches in sunny conditions. Observations found no feeding activities during rain and right after showers. Their feeding patterns are well-matched with the seasonal weather patterns. The highest feeding rate is during breeding season, perfectly matching the sunniest period, right after the rainy season.


Migration

Each spring, blue-throated bee-eaters (''Merops viridis'') along with blue-tailed bee-eaters (''Merops philippinus'') migrate from
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, cross the
Straits of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
, and end up on the west coast of Malaysia. The observed flight locomotion from Tanjung Tuan, west coast of Malaysia, was a combination of flapping and gliding flight. Occasionally, they would use the air currents from the sea-breeze to soar upwards. Once reaching land, they would rest on the lighthouse and tree branches for up to ten minutes before continuing eastward. This migration was observed from 2000 to 2001 with a total of 2,226 bee-eaters, with 1353 blue-tailed bee-eaters, 222 blue-throated bee-eaters, and the rest unidentified. The most observed migrating bee-eaters occurred on 21 March 2000 between 1-2PM. The high number observations of bee-eaters were most likely due to the strong thermals that formed over Sumatra, allowing them to soar over the sea-breeze with ease. High numbers of bee-eaters were also observed to migrate when there were high westerly winds blowing towards Malaysia. Blue-throated bee-eaters also migrate onto breeding grounds of western China during breeding season as shown in the range map above.


Relationship to humans

Humans act as a threat to blue-throated bee-eater habitats. They have been characterized as "least concern" in terms of conservational status, which is determined by a combination of range distribution, population stability, habitat loss, and potential threats. This was last assessed on October 1, 2016. humans have impacted avian richness in the hill dipterocarp tropical rainforests in Malaysia. Logging and destruction of rainforests can impact not only individual bird species, but also the diversity of birds in the region. Diversity of species can bounce back within thirty years post-logging and was observed to have higher species richness in terms of bird diversity and numbers compared to recently logged forests. Although uncommon, they are sometimes kept as pets and used for horticulture.


References

*Collar, N.J. 2011. Species limits in some Philippine birds including the Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus. Forktail number 27: 29–38.


External links


Image at ADW
{{Taxonbar, from=Q863179 blue-throated bee-eater Birds of South China blue-throated bee-eater blue-throated bee-eater Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Southeast Asia Birds of Southeast Asia