Diurnal-activity Patterns of the Small Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) in Southern India

• Published in: Tropical life sciences research Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 9 - 20
• Main Authors: Ali, Abdul Hameed Mohamed Samsoor, Asokan, Subramanian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malaysia Universiti Sains Malaysia Press 01.04.2015; Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
• Subjects: Age; Animal behavior; Habitats; Studies; Temperature; Wind; Time Blocks; Scanning; Seasons; Small Bee-eater; Time-activity; Feeding
• ISSN: 1985-3718; 2180-4249

The diurnal time-activity patterns of the Small Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) were studied between 2005 and 2006 in the Nagapattinam District of Southern India. Bee-eaters were observed to spend an average of 52.5% of their day time scanning, 21.3% feeding, 13.3% flying, 8.8% resting and 4.1% engaging in preening activities. The time spent on scanning varied among seasons in 2005 (p<0.05) and among time blocks (p<0.05), but it did not vary among years or habitats (p>0.05). The feeding patterns differed among years, seasons within years, time blocks and habitats (p<0.05). The flying habits varied among years, time blocks and habitats (p<0.05) but did not change between seasons within years (p>0.05). The resting habits differed among years and habitats (p<0.05) but did not differ among seasons within years or time blocks (p>0.05). Preening differed among years and time blocks (p<0.05) but did not vary among seasons within years or habitats (p>0.05). We conclude that several factors, such as food availability, environmental factors and predation threats, may affect the diurnal activity patterns of Bee-eaters between habitats and seasons; a further study could clarify this conclusion.