Blue-bearded Bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni) is a large species of bee-eater found in much of the Indian Subcontinent and parts of Southeast 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. 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 is named after Lieut. John Atherton (13th Light Dragoons) a nephew of Mrs. P. J. Selby who died in 1827 and collected a specimen . Selby described the species in Illustrations of Ornithology published along with Sir William Jardine in 1828.[6] Jardine and Selby described it in the Illustrations of Ornithology (Series 1, Volume 2 part 4, November 1828, plate 58) and the type locality (holotype is in the Selby Collection, UMZC, 25/Mer/7/b/2) 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 for the species based on the fact that Atherton was posted in Bangalore when he wrote to Selby and noted that he was helped by a French collector (thought to be Leschenault).[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.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:21:40 +0000
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