Photos copyright: AS/monacoeye • Serengeti • Oct 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Little Bee Eater
Latin: Merops pusillus
Other:
Family: Meropidae • Bee Eaters

The Little Bee-eater is found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa.

There are 24 species of Bee-eater worldwide, mostly in the genus Merops. Bee-eaters live in the Old World from Africa to Australia, with the highest number in Africa.

They almost exclusively eat insects, usually catching them on the wing, with a predilection for bees and wasps. Insects with stings are knocked against a hard surface then rubbed, with the bird’s eyes closed, to discharge the venom.

Thanks to André for sending in these pictures from Tanzania.More photos...

Photos copyright: AS/monacoeye • Ngorongoro • Oct 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: European Bee Eater
Latin: Merops apiaster
Other: Guêpier d'Europe (Fr) • Gruccione (It) • Abejaruco europeo (Es)
Family: Meropidae • Bee Eaters

Around the 8th of September each year, hundreds of European Bee-eaters fly along the mountains behind Monaco (below in “more photos”), parallel to the coast, in their annual southwestern migration, down to Spain and then on to Africa.

They seem to come through in groups of twenty to fifty birds, at roughly half-hour intervals, with a one-day peak of several hundred individuals.

These small colourful birds have a fluttering flight, which appears quite haphazard, yet they manage to progress in a generally westward direction, parallel to the coast. They can be heard approaching by their flutey, whistling song, which sounds a little like singing electrical wires, which they make as they fly.

André, has just sent in the photo (above) of a European Bee-Eater in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, in October.More photos...

095 Meropidae - Bee-eaters - IOC 2.5 - 2010

Nyctyornis amictus - Red-bearded Bee-eater - Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo
Nyctyornis athertoni - Blue-bearded Bee-eater - Widespread Asia

Meropogon forsteni - Purple-bearded Bee-eater - Sulawesi

Merops breweri - Black-headed Bee-eater - C, WC Africa
Merops muelleri - Blue-headed Bee-eater - C, W Africa
Merops gularis - Black Bee-eater - C, W Africa
Merops hirundineus - Swallow-tailed Bee-eater - Widespread Africa
Merops pusillus - Little Bee-eater - Widespread Africa
Merops variegatus - Blue-breasted Bee-eater - NE, C, WC Africa
Merops oreobates - Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater - EC Africa
Merops bulocki - Red-throated Bee-eater - EC, C, W Africa
Merops bullockoides - White-fronted Bee-eater - SC, SE Africa
Merops revoilii - Somali Bee-eater - E Africa
Merops albicollis - White-throated Bee-eater - NE, C, W Africa
Merops boehmi - Böhm's Bee-eater - SE Africa
Merops orientalis - Green Bee-eater - W Africa to Arabian Peninsula to Southeast Asia
Merops persicus - Blue-cheeked Bee-eater - SW, NW Africa
Merops superciliosus - Olive Bee-eater - Ethiopia to Namibia, Madagascar
Merops philippinus - Blue-tailed Bee-eater - Widespread Asia
Merops ornatus - Rainbow Bee-eater - Australia - Sulawesi to Solomon Islands
Merops viridis - Blue-throated Bee-eater - S China to Java & Philippines
Merops leschenaulti - Chestnut-headed Bee-eater - Widespread Asia
Merops apiaster - European Bee-eater - SW Europe, W, S Africa
Merops malimbicus - Rosy Bee-eater - WC, W Africa
Merops nubicus - Northern Carmine Bee-eater - E, C, W Africa
Merops nubicoides - Southern Carmine Bee-eater - SC, SE Africa