NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
Merops leschenaulti Vieillot, 1817
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
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.
Wikipedia contributors, Chestnut-headed bee-eater; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:02:08.049759+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Merops leschenaulti Vieillot, 1817
- Name authority
- Vieillot, 1817
- Common name
- Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Meropidae
- Genus
- Merops
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCoraciiformes
- familyMeropidae
- genusMerops Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesMerops leschenaulti Vieillot, 1817
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Merops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Rainbow Bee-eaterMerops ornatus Latham, 1801 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue-tailed Bee-eaterMerops philippinus Linnaeus, 1767 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Somali Bee-eaterMerops revoilii Oustalet, 1882 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue-breasted Bee-eaterMerops variegatus Vieillot, 1817 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black Bee-eaterMerops gularis Shaw, 1798 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Green Bee-eaterMerops viridissimus Swainson, 1837 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-throated Bee-eaterMerops albicollis Vieillot, 1817 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| European Bee-eaterMerops apiaster Linnaeus, 1758 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Böhm's Bee-eaterMerops boehmi Reichenow, 1882 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-headed Bee-eaterMerops breweri (Cassin, 1859) | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-fronted Bee-eaterMerops bullockoides A. Smith, 1834 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-throated Bee-eaterMerops bulocki Vieillot, 1817 | MeropidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554662 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3ZW5C. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.