Emerald Spint
| Emerald Spint | ||||||||||
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Adult Emerald Spint (right) and young bird, Yala National Park |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Merops orientalis | ||||||||||
| Latham , 1801 |
The emerald spint ( Merops orientalis ) is a bird of the bee-eater family (Meropidae).
features
The Emerald Spint is a brightly colored, slender bird. The plumage is colored gold-green to dark green on the upper side. The underside varies depending on the subspecies. The wings are green, the eye mask and beak are black, and the eyes are red. The bird reaches a total length of 16 to 18 cm; Added to this are the elongated central tail feathers, which are up to 10 cm long. The young bird lacks these.
Occurrence
In Africa, the emerald spint occurs south of the Sahara from Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia and in the Nile Valley ; in Asia in parts of the Near and Middle East and from India to Vietnam . He lives in dry, open, tree-lined landscapes. Due to the large distribution area and the frequency of the species, the emerald spint is not considered endangered.
Subspecies
There are eight subspecies:
- M. o. Viridissimus Swainson , 1837 occurs from Senegal to Ethiopia . It is yellowish green in color. The elongated central tail feathers are up to 96 mm long.
- M. o. Cleopratra Nicoll , 1910 lives in the Nile Valley. The elongated central tail feathers are 86 mm long.
- M. o. Cyanophrys ( Cabanis & Heine , 1860) lives in the southwest and southeast of the Arabian Peninsula (e.g .: Oman , Yemen and United Arab Emirates ), as well as in areas near the Dead Sea and Jordan . The front of the head and eyebrows are azure blue, the chin and throat cereal blue , the bonnet olive green. The elongated central tail feathers are only 23 mm long.
- M. o. Muscatensis ( Sharpe , 1886) lives in central Saudi Arabia and is yellowish and paler green and has a narrower throat ligament than M. o. Cyanophrys .
- M. o. Beludschicus Neumann , 1910 lives in the coastal lowlands from the Shatt al-Arab via Iran and Pakistan to Punjab and Rajasthan . The hood and neck are golden green, the chin and throat pale blue, the 1–2 mm wide neck stripe is pale green. The elongated central tail feathers are up to 60 mm long.
- M. o. Orientalis Latham , 1801 lives in India and Sri Lanka and has a darker green and less yellowish plumage than M. o. Beludschicus . The elongated central tail feathers are up to 71 mm long.
- M. o. Ferrugeiceps Anderson , 1879 lives from Assam to Burma and Vietnam . The hood, neck and coat are reddish brown. There is a narrow green stripe under the black mask. The elongated central tail feathers are up to 63 mm long.
- M. o. Ceylonicus Whistler , 1944 is widespread in Sri Lanka.
behavior
The emerald spint is a fairly common and trusting bird. From a low sitting area he hunts insects, mainly bees, wasps and ants in flight.
Reproduction
While the monogamous emerald spint in Africa digs up to 2 m long breeding caves in sandbanks, in India it also breeds in colonies with up to 30 breeding pairs. The clutch consists of four to eight white eggs, which are incubated by both parent birds.
literature
- C. Hilary Fry and Kathie Fry: Kingfishers, Bee-Eaters, & Rollers. Princeton, New Jersey 1992, 1999, ISBN 0-691-04879-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Merops orientalis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Accessed October 28, 2012th
- ↑ IOC World Bird List Todies, motmots, bee-eaters
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Merops orientalis in the Internet Bird Collection