Blue-throated Bee-eater

The blue-throated bee-eater is a medium-large bee-eater, about 21 cm long excluding the elongated central tail feathers, which add about 9 cm, and weighing about 34–41 g. It has a red-brown nape, dark green wings, a light green breast and a signature blue throat. Juveniles have a dark green head and wings and a light green breast, and gain the full plumage in adulthood. It is found in much of Southeast Asia, in subtropical or tropical mangrove forest (Wikipedia, general species account).

Its diet is mostly bees, wasps and dragonflies. It has a rich variety of songs and calls, including long calls that carry far in the forest. It is most widespread at low altitudes of 0–670 m but is known up to 1,600 m, and colonies range from 50 to 200 pairs, or single birds living solitary in the open country. There is one record of vagrancy in India, a single bird in a blue-tailed bee-eater colony near Kannur, Kerala, from 26 May to 8 June 2013. SoIB 2023 lists it as a bird of uncertain migratory status and non-specialised habitat that eats invertebrates, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).