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

Like other bee-eaters,this species is a richly coloured,slender bird.It is about 9"(16–18cm)long with about 2 inches made up by the elongated central tail-feathers.The sexes are not visually distinguishable.He entire plumage is bright green & tinged with blue especially on the chin & throat.The crown and upper back are tinged with golden rufous.The flight feathers are rufous washed with green & tipped with blackish.A fine black line runs in front of & behind the eye.The iris is crimson & the bill is black while the legs are dark grey.The feet are weak with the three toes joined at the base.Southeast Asian birds have rufous crown & face & green underparts,whereas Arabian beludschicus has a green crown,blue face & bluish underparts.The wings are green & the beak is black.The elongated tail feathers are absent in juveniles.Sexes are alike.

The calls is a nasal trill tree-tree-tree-tree,usually given in flight.
Leucistic individuals have been noted.

*Taxonomy & systematics.
Asian green bee-eater was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 using its current binomial name.

*Distribution & habitat.
This is an abundant & fairly tame bird,familiar throughout its range.It is a bird which breeds in open country with bushes.In Africa & Arabia it is found in arid areas,but is more diverse in its habitats further east.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.

*Behaviour & ecology.
Like other species in the genus,bee-eaters predominantly eat insects,especially bees,wasps & ants,which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.Before swallowing prey,a bee-eater removes stings & 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 & 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 & will sometimes bathe in water by dipping into water in flight.They are usually seen in small groups & often roost communally in large numbers(200-300).The birds move excitedly at the roost site & call loudly,often explosively dispersing before settling back to the roost tree.little green bee-eater is also becoming common in urban & sub-urban neighborhoods & 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 & consume the meal.This behaviour is generally observed between the hours of 7 & 8am & after 4pm.

Breeding season is from March to June.Unlikemany bee-eaters,these are often solitary nesters,making a tunnel in a sandy bank.Breeding pairs are often joined by helpers.They nest in hollows in vertical mud banks.Nest tunnel that they construct can run as much as 5 feet long and the 3-5eggs are laid on the bare ground in the cavity at the end of the tunnel.Eggs are very spherical & glossy white.Clutch size varies with rainfall & insect food density.Both sexes incubate.Eggs hatch asynchronously with an incubation period of about 14 days & the chicks grow fledge in 3 to 4 weeks and in the fledging stage show a reduction in body weight.A study suggested that green bee-eaters may be capable of interpreting the behaviour of human observers.They showed an ability to predict whether a human at a particular location would be capable of spotting the nest entrance & then behaved appropriately to avoid giving away the nest location.Ability to look at a situation from another's point of view was previously believed to be possessed only by primates.

Riverside habitats were found to support high populations in southern India(157 birds per km²)dropping off too 101 per km² in agricultural areas and 43-58 per km² near human habitations.

They feed on flying insects & can sometimes be nuisance to bee-keepers.The preferred prey was mostly beetles followed by hymenopterans.Orthopterans appear to be avoided.They are sometimes known to take crabs.Like most other birds they regurgitate the hard parts of their prey as pellets.

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