Asian green bee-eater
Merops orientalis Latham, 1801
The Asian green bee-eater (Merops orientalis) is a species in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh 14.8 g to 18 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the Asian green bee-eater
- Weight
- 14.8 g – 18 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 23.1 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5 – 5.7src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the Asian green bee-eater?
Photos of the Asian green bee-eater
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the Asian green bee-eater live?
Not recorded
What is the Asian green bee-eater?
The Asian green bee-eater (Merops orientalis), also known as the little green bee-eater, and just green bee-eater, is a bird species in the bee-eater family. It is resident or with short-distance seasonal movements, and is found widely distributed across Asia from coastal southern Iran east through the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam. Populations in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that were formerly assigned to this species (under the name green bee-eater) are now considered to be distinct species, the African green bee-eater and the Arabian green bee-eater. They are mainly insect eaters and they are found in grassland, thin scrub and forest often quite far from water. Several regional plumage variations are known and several subspecies have been named.
From the Wikipedia article “Asian green bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asian_green_bee-eater&oldid=1384502222), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the Asian green bee-eater endangered?
The Asian green bee-eater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Asian green bee-eater classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCoraciiformes
- familyMeropidae
- genusMerops
- SpeciesMerops orientalis Latham, 1801
Other names and names in other languages (77)
- Green bee-eaterEnglish
- Little green bee-eaterEnglish
- وروار أخضرArabic
- وروار شرقيArabic
- آكل النحل الأخضرArabic
- آكل النحل الصغيرArabic
- وروار أخضر صغير [orientalis Group]Arabic
- Източен пчелоядBulgarian
- Малък зелен пчелоядBulgarian
- সবুজ বাঁশপাতিBangla
- Gwespetaerig glasBreton
- abellerol maragda orientalCatalan
- vlha indickáCzech
- vlha proměnliváCzech
- gwenynysor gwyrddWelsh
- Lille Grøn BiæderDanish
- AsiensmaragdspintGerman
- Bronzescheitel-SmaragdspintGerman
- SmaragdbienenfresserGerman
- SmaragdspintGerman
- ΝανομελισσοφάγοςGreek
- Hindia abelmanĝuloEsperanto
- orienta abelmanĝuloEsperanto
- Abejaruco esmeralda orientalSpanish
- väike-mesilasenäppEstonian
- Erle-txori berdeBasque
- زنبورخوار سبزPersian
- pikkumehiläissyöjäFinnish
- Guêpier d'OrientFrench
- Guêpier d’OrientFrench
- Guêpier vert d'AsieFrench
- Petit guêpier vertFrench
- Beachaire glasIrish
- નાનો પતરંગોGujarati
- שרקרק גמדיHebrew
- שרקרק חום כיפהHebrew
- שרקרק גמדי (אסייתי)Hebrew
- smaragdna pčelaricaCroatian
- smaragdgyurgyalagHungarian
- Kirik-kirik hijauIndonesian
- MýsvelgurIcelandic
- Gruccione verdeItalian
- Gruccione verde piccoloItalian
- ミドリハチクイJapanese
- ಕಳ್ಳಿ ಪೀರKannada
- 녹색벌잡이새Korean
- rytinis bitininkasLithuanian
- zaļais bišķērājsLatvian
- നാട്ടുവേലിത്തത്തMalayalam
- वेडा राघूMarathi
- အာရှပုစဉ်းထိုးBurmese
- मुरली चराNepali
- Kleine Groene BijeneterDutch
- Aziatische Kleine Groene BijeneterDutch
- beryllbieterNorwegian
- ਹਰਾ ਮੱਖੀ-ਖਾਣਾPunjabi
- żołna wschodniaPolish
- ہرا مکھی-کھاناWestern Panjabi
- abelharuco-verdePortuguese
- abelharuco-verde-asiáticoPortuguese
- Изумрудная щуркаRussian
- Малая зелёная щуркаRussian
- UhcauvloborriNorthern Sami
- včelárik východnýSlovak
- smaragdni čebelarSlovenian
- зелена пчеларицаSerbian
- Mala zelena pčelaricaSerbian
- orientbiätareSwedish
- grön dvärgbiätareSwedish
- பச்சைப் பஞ்சுருட்டான்Tamil
- சிறிய பச்சைப் பஞ்சுருட்டான்Tamil
- นกจาบคาเล็กThai
- Küçük Yeşil ArıkuşuTurkish
- бджолоїдка малаUkrainian
- Trảu đầu hungVietnamese
- 綠喉蜂虎Chinese
- 绿喉蜂虎Chinese
Relatives of the Asian green bee-eater
Other species in the same genus Merops.
European bee-eater
Merops apiaster
Blue-cheeked bee-eater
Merops persicus
Blue-tailed bee-eater
Merops philippinus
Rainbow bee-eater
Merops ornatus
Chestnut-headed bee-eater
Merops leschenaulti
White-fronted bee-eater
Merops bullockoides
CompareAsian green bee-eater vs European bee-eaterAsian green bee-eater vs Blue-cheeked bee-eaterAsian green bee-eater vs Blue-tailed bee-eaterAsian green bee-eater vs Rainbow bee-eater
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the Asian green bee-eater?
An adult Asian green bee-eater weighs 14.8 g – 18 g and has a wingspan of 23.1 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the Asian green bee-eater endangered?
The Asian green bee-eater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the Asian green bee-eater?
The Asian green bee-eater (Merops orientalis) belongs to the family Meropidae in the order Coraciiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Asian green bee-eater (Merops orientalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/asian-green-bee-eater
“Asian green bee-eater (Merops orientalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/asian-green-bee-eater.
@misc{asian_green_bee_eater_2026,
title = {Asian green bee-eater (Merops orientalis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/asian-green-bee-eater},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}