| Purple-bearded bee-eater | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Meropidae |
| Genus: | Meropogon Bonaparte, 1850 |
| Species: | M. forsteni |
| Binomial name | |
| Meropogon forsteni Bonaparte, 1850 | |
Thepurple-bearded bee-eater orCelebes bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni) is anear passerinebird in thebee-eaterfamily Meropidae. It is anendemic resident on the island ofSulawesi,Indonesia. This species is often seen in clearings inside dense forest.
The purple-bearded bee-eater is theonly member of thegenusMeropogon. Itsscientific name commemoratesEltio Alegondas Forsten (1811–1843) who collected in theEast Indies between 1838 and 1842.
The purple-bearded bee-eater is a colourful long bird with a long tail, long slender decurvedbeak and rather rounded wings. It is 25–26 cm (9.8–10.2 in) long, excluding 66 cm (26 in) of tail streamers.
The adult male has a purple head, face, “beard” (long hanging throat feathers), breast and upper belly. The upperparts, wings and tail are green, apart from a reddish-brown nape, and the central tail feathers are elongated as streamers. The lower belly is reddish-brown and the underside of the tail is chestnut.
The adult female is similar, but the forebelly is reddish-brown, not purple. Young birds have a green crown and nape, dusky face and bluish beard. They lack the elongated central tailfeathers of the adult.
The call is a quiet high-pitchedszit orpeep.
The purple-bearded bee-eater undertakesseasonal movements, breeding inland in the dry season, and moving to thecoast in the rainy season. Like other bee-eaters it nests inburrows up to 90 cm long tunnelled into the side of sandy river banks,cliffs and cuttings, but does not form colonies.
The purple-bearded bee-eater, again like its relatives, eatsinsects, includingbees,wasps anddragonflies andbeetles, which are caught in flight. This species hunts alone or in pairs, rather than inflocks, and sits on a favoured perch for long periods, twisting its head with its beard flattened or plumped, and wagging its tail back and forth before sallying after passingprey.
