Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti)
About the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
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. This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green, with blue on the rump and lower belly. Its face and throat are yellow with a black eye stripe, and the crown and nape are rich chestnut. The thin curved bill is black. Sexes are alike, but young birds are duller. It is 18–20 cm long and lacks the two elongated central tail feathers possessed by most of its relatives.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 51 recordings for this species: 12 CC BY-NC-ND · 5 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Asian Green Bee-eaterMerops orientalisrecording
- Blue-tailed Bee-eaterMerops philippinusrecording
- Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaterMerops oreobatesrecording
- European Bee-eaterMerops apiasterrecording
- White-throated Bee-eaterMerops albicollisrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.