Blue-bearded Bee-eater

Blue-bearded Bee-eater
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Meropidae
Genus:	Nyctyornis
Species:	N. athertoni
Binomial name
Nyctyornis athertoni (Jardine & Selby, 1830)[2]
Synonyms
Merops athertoni Alcemerops athertoni[3]

The Blue-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni is a large species of bee-eater found in South Asia. This species is found in openings in patches of dense forest. It is found in the Malayan region and also extends into the Western Ghats in southwestern India. The blue feathers of its throat are elongated and often held fluffed up giving it the name. They 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 in many species.

Description

Nominate (Anaikatti, Coimbatore)

This large bee-eater 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 Indian populations are said to be paler green than the northeast Indian populations.^[4] Although males and females appear similar, the blue throat feathers of the male show higher ultraviolet reflectivity than those of the female.^[5]

The species name is after John Atherton who collected the specimen which was described by his uncle P. J. Selby in "Illustrations of Ornithology" published by Sir William Jardine and P J Selby in 1828.^[6] Jardine and Selby described it in the Illustration of Ornithology (Series 1, Volume 2 part 4, November 1828, plate 58) and the type locality was said to be Cachar District Assam by E. C. Stuart Baker^[7] but Sir N B Kinnear re-designated Bangalore as the type locality of the species.^[8][9] However the species is extremely rare in that region.^[10]

The nominate form is found in India and parts of mainland Southeast Asia while brevicaudatus is an insular population from Hainan. A subspecies bartletti from northeastern India described by W. N. Koelz is subsumed into the nominate population.^[11][12]

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.^[4] Their presence in an area can easily be missed.^[13] It has been reported from the hill regions of the Satpuras, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Nilgiris, Chota Nagpur and from the Sub-Himalayan forests.^[14][15][16]

Behaviour and ecology

Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. July 1994

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.^[4] The flight is undulating and very barbet-like.^[17]

A Bluebearded Bee-eater carries food for chicks inside the tunnel nest

The breeding season is February to August in India and courtship involves ritual feeding, bowing and tail fanning.^[4] 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.^[18]

The species appears to feed mainly on bees.^[9] It exploits the defensive behavior of Giant honey bee (Apis dorsata) colonies by provoking the mass release of guard bees which are then caught and eaten as they pursue the bird.^[19] Although mainly foraging using aerial sallies, it is known to glean from bark.^[20] They may sometimes associate with mixed-species foraging flocks.^[21] Birds have been seen at flowers of Erythrina and Salmalia and whether for insects or nectar has not been determined.^[17]

A blood parasite Leucocytozoon nyctyornis has been described from this species^[22] and feather parasites Brueelia are also known.^[23]

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2008). Nyctyornis athertoni. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 26 July 2009.
2. ^ Jardine and Selby (1830), in lllustration of Ornithology, plate 58. Holotype is in the Selby Collection, UMZC, 25/Mer/7/b/2.
3. ^ Guenther, A (ed) (1892). ECatalogue of the birds in the British Museum. Vol 17. Trustees of the British Museum. http://www.archive.org/stream/catalogueofbirds17brit#page/88/mode/1up. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Rasmussen PC & JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide.. 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. p. 268. 
5. ^ Eaton, Muir D. & Scott M. Lanyon (2003). "The ubiquity of avian ultraviolet plumage reflectance". Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 270 (1525): 1721–1726. doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2431. PMC 1691429. PMID 12965000. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1691429. 
6. ^ Jackson, Christine Elisabeth; Peter Davis (2001). Sir William Jardine: a life in natural history. Continuum International. p. 208. ISBN 0718501640. 
7. ^ Baker, ECS (1922). Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 28: 314. 
8. ^ Kinnear, NB. ( 1925) Ibis :751
9. ^ ^{a b} Deignan HG (1945). "The birds of northern Thailand". Smithsonian Institution Bulletin 186: 208–209. http://www.archive.org/stream/bulletinunitedst1861945unit#page/209/mode/1up. 
10. ^ Karthikeyan,S; Prasad,JN (1993). "Recent sighting of Bluebearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni (Jardine & Selby)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 90 (2): 290–291. 
11. ^ Storer, R.W. (1988). "Type specimens of birds in the collections of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology". Miscellaneous Publication, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 174: 1–69. hdl:2027.42/56418. 
12. ^ Marien, Daniel (1950). "Notes on some Asiatic Meropidae (birds)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 49 (2): 151–164. 
13. ^ Inglis,Charles M (1949). "The Bluebearded Bee-eater (Alcemerops athertoni Jard. & Selby) on the Nilgiris". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 48 (3): 581–582. 
14. ^ Osmaston, BB (1922). "The occurrence of the Bluebearded Bee-eater Nyctiornis athertoni in the Central Provinces". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 28 (3): 805. 
15. ^ Hewetson, C (1944). "Bearded Bee-eater (Alcemerops athertoni) in the Central Provinces". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 44 (4): 592–593. 
16. ^ Ara,Jamal (1951). "Distribution of the Blue-bearded Bee-eater [Nyctiornis athertoni (Jardine & Selby)]". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50 (1): 175–176. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Ali S & SD Ripley (1983). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 4. Oxford University Press. pp. 112–113. 
18. ^ Blanford, WT (ed) (1895). Fauna of British India. Birds Vol. 3. pp. 115–116. http://www.archive.org/stream/faunaofbritishin03oate#page/116/mode/1up. 
19. ^ Gerald Kastberger, D.K. Sharma (2000-09-22). "The predator-prey interaction between blue-bearded bee eaters (Nyctyornis athertoni Jardine and Selby 1830) and giant honeybees (Apis dorsata Fabricius 1798)" (PDF). Apidologie (EDP Sciences) 31 (6): 727–736. doi:10.1051/apido:2000157. http://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/pdf/2000/06/m0608.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-27. 
20. ^ Santharam,V (1999). "Birds foraging on tree trunks". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 96 (3): 468–469. 
21. ^ Fleming, RL & M A Traylor (1968). "Distributional notes on Nepal birds". Fieldiana 53 (3): 147–203. http://www.archive.org/stream/distributionalno533flem#page/194/mode/2up. 
22. ^ Nandi NC (1986). "Leucocytozoon nyctyornis n. sp. from bluebearded bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni (Jardine and Selby)". Archiv für Protistenkunde 132 (2): 113–117. 
23. ^ Williams NS (1981). "The Brueelia (Mallophaga: Philopteridae) of the Meropidae (Aves: Coraciiformes)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 54 (3): 510–518. 

External links

• Internet Bird Collection
• Calls
• Specimen photos