It is resident but prone to seasonal movements and is found widely distributed across Asia from coastal southern Iran east through the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam.

[3] They are mainly insect eaters and they are found in grassland, thin scrub and forest often quite far from water.

The Asian green bee-eater was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 using its current binomial name.

[3] A study of species within the genus Merops based on plumage characteristics found that most of the subspecies of M. o. orientalis grouping together with the most similar species being Merops leschenaulti and subspecies M. o. ferrugeiceps appeared closer to that group.

The entire plumage is bright green and tinged with blue especially on the chin and throat.

In Africa and Arabia it is found in arid areas, but is more diverse in its habitats further east.

[12] Like other species in the genus, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and ants, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.

[2] These birds are somewhat sluggish in the mornings and may be found huddled next to each other on wires sometimes with their bills tucked in their backs well after sunrise.

[13] The little green bee-eater is also becoming common in urban and sub-urban neighborhoods, and has been observed perching on television antennae, only to launch into a brief, zig-zag flight formation to catch an insect, then return to the same perch and consume the meal.

Unlike many bee-eaters, these are often solitary nesters, making a tunnel in a sandy bank.

[16] A study suggested that green bee-eaters may be capable of interpreting the behaviour of human observers.

The ability to look at a situation from another's point of view was previously believed to be possessed only by primates.