Merops orientalis - Little Green Bee-eater
Feather characters. Barbules are rather short (0.68-0.84 mm) and divided into pigmented nodes and partly pigmented (less than 50%) internodes. Borders between cells are visible, but hardly swollen and thus too small to qualify as nodes. These nodal structures (28-29 per mm) have about the same size along the entire length of the barbules, only slightly decreasing towards the tip. Beware that nodal structures may look like nodes, because of the dark concentrated pigment in them. If you measure them however they turn out to be too small to be qualified as nodes. Villi are absent and internodes are straight. Prongs are absent.
Field characters. Size 22-25 cm. Weight 14 g (14.0-16.0) (Dunning, 1993). Much smaller and somewhat less colourful than Bee-eater; predominantly green with pale underwing. Two subspecies breed in region. Egyptian race cleopatra has black eye-stripe with a narrow stripe of diffuse blue below, black bar across centre of upper breast, and a golden-brown wash on head, neck, and wings; central tail-feathers very long (extending 4-9 cm). Arabian and Middle Eastern race cyanophrys lacks bronze tone; forehead, supercilium, throat, and upper breast blue; breast-bar diffuse; central tail-feathers short (extending 1-2.5 cm). Juvenile in both races duller; lacks elongated tail-feathers. Unlike Bee-eater, usually seen in pairs, not in parties.
Voice. High-pitched 'tree-tree-tree'; alarms with 'ti-ti-ti' (without rollers).
Distribution. Common resident in SE Israel and Nile basin; possibly some local dispersion. Map: see MapIt.
Habitat. Lowlands and open country with trees; cultivations. Breeds in tunnel in bank.
Food. Small flying insects, often caught in sallies from perch or wire (like fly-catcher).