Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

The blue-cheeked bee-eater breeds in North Africa and the Middle East from eastern Turkey to Kazakhstan and India, and is generally strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa. It is slender and richly coloured, mostly green with blue sides to the face, a black eye stripe and a yellow and brown throat. It reaches 31 cm, plus elongated central tail feathers of 7 cm (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in sub-tropical semi-desert with a few trees such as acacia and winters in open woodland or grassland. It catches insects from an open perch and probably takes more dragonflies than anything else. Two subspecies are accepted. It is closely related to the blue-tailed bee-eater. The 2012 National Red List gives no status under this name.