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Project Noah Nature School
Merops orientalis
Yala National Park. Like other bee-eaters, this species is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is about 9 inches (16–18 cm) long with about 2 inches made up by the elongated central tail-feathers. The sexes are not visually distinguishable. 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, whereas Arabian beludschicus has a green crown, blue face and bluish underparts. The wings are green and the beak is black. The elongated tail feathers are absent in juveniles. Sexes are alike. The calls is a nasal trill tree-tree-tree-tree, usually given in flight.
Yala National Park. coastal lowlands. The Yala area is mostly composed of metamorphic rock belonging to the Precambrian era and classified into two series, Vijayan series and Highland series. Reddish brown soil and low humic grey soil are prominent among six soil types. Yala is situated in the lowest peneplain of Sri Lanka, which extends from Trincomalee to Hambantota. Topographically the area is a flat and mildly undulating plain that runs to the coast with elevation is 30 metres (98 ft) close to the coast while rising in the interior to 100–125 metres (328–410 ft). The national park is situated in the dry semi-arid climatic region and rain is received mainly during the northeast monsoon. The mean annual rainfall ranges between 500–775 millimetres (19.7–30.5 in) while the mean temperature ranges between 26.4 °C (79.5 °F) in January to 30 °C (86 °F) in April. It is windier in Yala, during the southwest monsoon compared to the wind during the northeast monsoon with wind speeds from 23 kilometres per hour (14 mph) to 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 mph). Water is abundant after the northeast monsoon, but during the dry season surface water becomes an important factor. The bodies of surface water appear in the forms of streams, tanks, waterholes, rock pools, and lagoons. Waterholes occur in low lying places while rock pools of varying size are capable of containing water year-round, and are hence an important source of water for elephants. For many water birds and water buffaloes natural waterholes are ideal habitats. Such reservoirs are largely concentrated to the Block I followed by Block II. Several tanks are there including, Maha Seelawa, Buthawa, Uraniya, and Pilinnawa tanks. Many rivers and streams flow in a southeasterly direction, originating in the highlands of adjacent Uva and central hills. Kumbukkan Oya in the east and Menik River and its tributaries in the west flow across the park, and provide an important water source in the dry season to wild animals of the park. Normally the streams of the park are dry during the drought season. These rivers and streams exhibit a degree of runoff fluctuations between wet and dry seasons. Kumbukkan Oya discharges seven times as much water in the rainy season than in the dry season. A number of lagoons are situated along the coast line of the park.
Spotted on Aug 13, 2017
Submitted on May 31, 2021
16 Comments
sounds good, thanks.
Ohh it's a pity that you didn't get to visit there... Soo many species that are endemic to Sri Lanka can be found there. I visited once in 2017 and even though I have no captured spottings from there, I still love the time I spent. Please do remember to go there when you visit Sri Lanka again!
Also if you one day visit, you can leave a comment somewhere I can see, and I will recommend you some amazing sites.
I did not, nor did I even hear about it. I just Googled it and it is not far from other places I visited, so I am disappointed that my tour guide/driver did not suggest we go there in all the times I went. I will have to put it on my bucket list!
By the way, did you get the chance to visit Sinharaja? It is like the heart of Sri Lanka's biodiversity. You must visit there if you haven't already.
Thanks for your recomendations. I will definitely check them out if I ever get to visit USA.
Very cool. It is a bit more challenging to spot wildlife in the USA National Parks vs Sri Lanka, but the geological beauty in the USA is unmatched. I especially recommend the parks in Utah (Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands), and also Yosemite and Yellowstone.
Well, I might not be able to go this year but I'm looking forward to it next year.
Maybe after this pandemic is over and I'm older and done with school, I might be able to visit USA for a nature tour...
i hope you do. Also hope one day you can see the natural beauty of the U.S.
Thank you! I remember visiting there when I was three or four years old but not after that. I really wish to visit there again now that I'm older...
P.S. I hope you can get to Bundala National Park sometime yourself. It truly is an underappreciated gem.
Thanks Rithmini. I hope so too!
You got some fantastic spottings from Yala... I sincerely hope you get the chance to visit here at least one more time
thanks Brian38. I appreciate the feedback.
I totally understand jazz.mann. All the information you have been providing has been absolutely wonderful. As for the references, it's a little bit of both. Its good to check at least 2 different references, especially with birds because you will notice that just one like Wikipedia will not always cover everything that you need it to. There is so much complexity with birds like migration with many, Sexual dimorphism in some, changing diets through the seasons, changing plumage through the seasons, subspecies, overlapping ranges, bird hybrids, juveniles don't look like adults and the list goes on. Climate change is a factor and changing the dynamics of migration routes and ranges in a mostly negative way for many birds. I really like that you added weather conditions and topographic info in your habitat in regards to the monsoon and dry seasons.
Hi Brian. Thanks for the kind words and constructive feedback. It is so nice to hear that people are enjoying my photos, especially someone like you who is so prolific on this site. Please understand that I took these photos 3-8 years ago, so I don't remember anything specific about the spottings other than what is visible in the photo. Also, I have no training in this area of study, and so the only info that I can add in most instances is what anyone could look up on wikipedia or the like (95% of the IDs were made with the help of the National Park trackers/spotters that you can request come along on the safaris--I stayed in touch with one of them and he helped me ID many of the photos), so it seemed like a lot of effort for not very original content. As you likely saw I do try to add interesting info about the area or park where I made the spottings, and a few other notes I made (e.g. how Sri Lankan elephants are not as threatened by poachers b/c most don't have tusks). Also regarding the references, are those supposed to be for how I was able to ID the spotting (as I said, I used my tracker), or are the references again just supposed to be where someone can look for more info (I usually just use wikipedia to connect to the scientific name once I know the common name)? Anyway, thanks again and I will try to improve my postings. I hope maybe with your knowledge, you can look at my (very short) unidentified tab and help with a few bird IDs for me (or any others). Cheers!
Welcome to Project Noah, jazz.mann. Beautiful series. I've enjoyed all your amazing spottings! If you don't mind could you please add some info in the description box about the bird or maybe some personal notes that described the situation of the spotting? This is important for researchers, students, and anyone else who is wanting to know more about the spotting. Also adding references is very helpful for yourself and others. I try to add at least one reference to all my spottings. Thanks in advance.