The chestnut-headed bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti), or bay-headed bee-eater, is a bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds on the Indian subcontinent and adjoining regions, ranging from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka across Southeast Asia to Indonesia. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the French naturalist and collector Jean-Baptiste Leschenault de La Tour who had brought Vieillot's specimen to France.

Three subspecies are recognised:

  • M. l. leschenaulti Vieillot, 1817 – India and Sri Lanka to central south China, Indochina and Malay Peninsula
  • M. l. quinticolor Vieillot, 1817 – far south Sumatra, Java and Bali
  • M. l. andamanensis Marien, 1950 – Andaman Islands

Molecular phylogenetics places the species as a sister of Merops viridis which together are sister to M. orientalis.

Description

thumb|left|M. l. quinticolor, in [[West Bali National Park, Indonesia]]

The chestnut-headed bee-eater is in overall length and weighs . The sexes are similar in appearance. The forehead, crown, nape, and are bright chestnut. The lores are black, continued as a thin band under the eye and ear-coverts. The , lower back and are green, the latter are tipped with bluish. The and are pale shining blue. The and are green, rufous on the inner webs, and all tipped dusky. The central tail-feathers are bluish on the outer, and green on the inner webs; the others are green, margined on the inner web with brown and all tipped dusky. The sides of the face, chin and throat are yellow; below this a broad band of chestnut extending to the sides of the neck and meeting the chestnut of the upper plumage; below this again is a formed by a short distinct band of black and then an ill-defined band of yellow. The remainder of lower plumage is green tipped with blue, especially on the and . The iris is red, the bill is black, the legs are dusky black and the claws dark horn-colour. The juveniles are like the adult but duller. They a green forehead, forecrown and . The lower throat is yellow rather than chestnut and the gorget band is indistinct. The breast and belly are paler and more olive in colour than the adult.

Distribution and habitat

thumb|Nominate subspecies (in [[Kerala)|left]]

This is a bird which breeds in sub-tropical open woodland. It is most common in highland areas.

Behaviour

These birds are gregarious and feed and roost communally.

Breeding

Chestnut-headed bee-eaters usually nest in small colonies in sandy banks. They make a relatively long tunnel in which the five to six spherical white eggs are laid. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs and feed the young.