76 Indian BIRDS VOL. 12 NO. 2 & 3 (PUBL. 12 OCTOBER 2016) Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis in Kerala: An escapee, or a wild vagrant? Sasidharan Manekkara Manekara, S., 2012. Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis in Kerala: An escapee, or a wild vagrant? Indian BIRDS 12 (2&3): 76–78. Sasidharan Manekkara, Panniayannore, Kannur 670671, Kerala, India. E–mail:
[email protected]. Manuscript received on 19 June 2016. Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis that I photographed In Kangol village, near Payyannur (12.10°N, 75.19°E), Kannur in Kannur District (Kerala), in May 2013, created waves District, Kerala, a nesting colony of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters M. A amongst bird-watchers, with several photographers from philippinus has been known to local bird-watchers for several Kerala zeroing on to the place to capture its photograph too. years. This is the only known breeding site of this species in Many encouraged me to report this sighting in Indian BIRDS, Kerala, a species that is otherwise known to be a winter visitor which I finally did in March 2014. However, I realised recently to the state (Sashikumar et. al. 2011). The local people say that that such a note never reached the editor (Praveen J., verbally this breeding site has been in existence for over thirty years, even 11 June 2016), and hence I resubmitted it with some additional though it is quite obvious to any passer-by, as it is right next to discussion, though this observation itself is dated and well known. the main road. During the breeding season, from March to July, the colony gets at least a few hundred Blue-tailed Bee-eaters that nest in the sand bunds; the breeding peaks in April–May.