Red-bearded bee-eater

Red-bearded bee-eater
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Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Meropidae
Genus:	Nyctyornis
Species:	N. amictus
Binomial name
Nyctyornis amictus (Temminck, 1824)

File:Red-bearded Bee-eater (Female).jpg

Female in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

The red-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis amictus) is a large species of bee-eater found in the Indo-Malayan subregion of South-east Asia. This species is found in openings in patches of dense forest.

Like other bee-eaters, they are colourful birds with long tails, long decurved beaks and pointed wings. They are large bee-eaters, predominantly green, with a red colouration to face that extends on to the slightly hanging throat feathers to form the “beard”.

Like other bee-eaters, they predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in flight from perches concealed in foliage. They hunt alone or in pairs, rather than in flocks, and sit motionless for long periods before pursuing their prey.

Like other bee-eaters, they nest in burrows tunnelled into the side of sandy banks, but do not form colonies.

References

• The Hamlyn photographic guide to birds of the world, foreword by Christopher Perrins; general editor: Andrew Gosler, London : Hamlyn, 1991, ISBN 0-600-57239-0