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Merops orientalis
A richly coloured, slender bird. It is about 16–18 cm long with about 2 inches made up by the elongated central tail-feathers. The entire plumage is bright green and tinged with blue especially on the chin and throat. The crown and upper back are tinged with golden rufous. The flight feathers are rufous washed with green and tipped with blackish. A fine black line runs in front of and behind the eye. The iris is crimson and the bill is black while the legs are dark grey. The feet are weak with the three toes joined at the base. Southeast Asian birds have rufous crown and face, and green underparts.
Yala National Park, Sri Lanka Yala combines a strict nature reserve with a national park. Divided into 5 blocks, the park has a protected area of nearly 130,000 hectares of land consisting of light forests, scrubs, grasslands, tanks and lagoons. One block is currently opened to the public. Situated in Sri Lanka’s south-east hugging the panoramic Indian Ocean, Yala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and was designated a national park in 1938. Ironically, the park was initially used as a hunting ground for the elite under British rule. Yala is home to 44 varieties of mammal and 215 bird species.
During our two trips in Yala we saw so many of these little birds. And they are always delightful to watch.
2 Comments
Thank you AntónioGinjaGinja. I've joined the mission but officially the spotting was on the 31st Dec 2014! ( and so was "my" leopard ) Is it the spotting or the posting that count?
Beautiful capture Muckpuk,congrats and thanks for sharing.
Please consider adding this spotting to the 2015 Best Wildlife photo mission: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/1184...