• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Merops orientalis, M. viridissimus and M. cyanophrys (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as M. orientalis following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	15 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	11,600,000
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Number of mature individuals	unknown	not applicable	not applicable	0
Population trend	increasing		suspected	-
Generation length (years)	6.2	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be fairly common locally over its entire range (del Hoyo et al. 2001).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be increasing as agricultural expansion and irrigation is creating new areas of suitable habitat (del Hoyo et al. 2001).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Afghanistan	extant	vagrant
Bangladesh	extant	native	yes
Bhutan	extant	vagrant
Cambodia	extant	native	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes
Greece	extant	vagrant
India	extant	native	yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Laos	extant	native	yes
Myanmar	extant	native	yes
Nepal	extant	native	yes
Pakistan	extant	native	yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native	yes
Thailand	extant	native	yes
Vietnam	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	non-breeding
Desert	Hot	suitable	breeding
Desert	Hot	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Savanna	Dry	suitable	breeding
Savanna	Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Freshwater Springs and Oases	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Freshwater Springs and Oases	suitable	non-breeding
Altitude	0 - 2500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Primary form used	Life stage used	Source	Scale	Level	Timing
Pets/display animals, horticulture	-	-		international	non-trivial	recent

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Merops orientalis. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/asian-green-bee-eater-merops-orientalis on 01/10/2023. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 01/10/2023.