Blue-headed Bee-eater (Merops muelleri)

Family
Meropidae (Bee-eaters)

Size
19 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Cassin, 1857)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland moist forest. From sea-level - 1,200 m.

Range (Guide)

Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Usually solitary.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files

Blue-headed Bee-eater (Merops muelleri) [XC163356]
by BurBenj from Yala River trail, Kakamega Forest, Kenya (call)

Blue-headed Bee-eater (Merops muelleri) [XC681908]
by id from Bakoumba, Lekoko, Haut-Ogooue, Gabon (uncertain)

Subspecies
Formerly sometimes joined with Black Bee-eater (Merops gularis) in genus Meropiscus. Has been placed with other small, round-winged species lacking tail-streamers in genus Mellitophagus, comprising present species and Black Bee-eater (Merops gularis), Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus), Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Merops variegatus), Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (Merops oreobates), Red-throated Bee-eater (Merops bulocki) and White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides). Subspecies intergrade between R Cross, Nigeria, and Douala, Cameroon; Kenyan population has been described as subspecies yalensis, but now considered indistinguishable from nominate.

The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

mentalis Cabanis, 1889 - Sierra Leone and south-western Mali to western Cameroon, and Bioko (Fernando P�o). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Blue-moustached Bee-eater (Merops mentalis).
muelleri (Cassin, 1857) - Southern Cameroon and northern Gabon to eastern Zaire, also western Kenya.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Blue-headed Bee-eater (Merops muelleri) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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