The beautiful bee eaters

The beautifully colourful bee eaters. I never tire of seeing them, as they flash through the air in search of insects or sit on wires sunning themselves. Every trip I've made into the forests is "greened" with a sighting of these birds. And even the backyards of Chennai for that matter.

I remember the one sitting on the wires at Siruthavoor, swooping, picking up insects, and munching them with glee.

At Bahminidadar in Kanha, among the tall brown grass of the plateau, there were these bee eaters perched on the grasses, a spot of green against the brown.  That sight has stayed with me all these years, and everytime I relive that moent of driving in the jeep, the grass crowding us on either side, and these flashes of green that made me gasp with wonder.

So I was especially thrilled to received these pictures from Mr Ramanan, a veritable bee eater photo festival!

The blue-tailed bee eater, seen at Sholinganallur.  A little bigger than the green bee eater.  Merops philippinus

The same chap.  They love to sun themselves and also watch for insects from these perches.

Notice the beak.  Sharp and pointed to catch those flying insects.  They generally bang about their insect morsel before eating it, to get rid of the venom.  They love bees incidentally.

Mr Ramanan photographed this pair of blue-tailed beeeaters at Corbett.  They are pretty gregarious birds, hang around in large groups, and are also monogamous for a season, so this may have been a "pair"?

The smaller green beeeater, seen at Corbett.  Merops orientalis, the more common one that we see around our cities as well. seen at Chennai near the marshes.

The chestnut headed bee eater seen at Thengumaragada, Kotagiri, Nilgiris.  Merops leschenaulti.  I have not yet seen this bird.  The chestnut head glints in the sun!

And neither have I seen this one.  The blue bearded bee eater!  Nyctyornis athertoni.  Amazing isnt it?  It is o the largest bee eater in India I'm guessing at about a foot in height, with a different square-ended tail.

Check out the beard feathers in this profile shot!  They are supposedly loners, and have a loud cackling call.

Little birds, with prominent sharp beaks, the bee eaters are a delightful introduction to birding, as they are active and busy and not so shy either.

Maybe this year I will see the bearded fellow?