Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus)

Other Names (World)
Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Carmine Bee-eater (nubicus), Nubian Bee-eater (nubicus), Southern Carmine Bee-eater (nubicoides), Ruby Bee-eater (nubicoides)

Family
Meropidae (Bee-eaters)

Size
24 - 27 cm

First Described (Guide)
Gmelin, 1788

Range (Guide)

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda.

Vagrant to Burundi.

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.

Food
Bees and other flying insects, including grasshoppers and locusts.

Voice
A deep, throaty 'tunk' uttered in flight. A series of 'rik' notes uttered when perched.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (12)...)

Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus) [XC267535]
by Andrew Spencer from Lake Boyo marshes, Ethiopia (call)

Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus) [XC267537]
by Andrew Spencer from Bilen Lodge, Ethiopia (call)

Nest
In a tunnel in a cliff, usually near river banks. In large colonies.

Subspecies
Subspecies commonly raised to the rank of separate species, but identical in voice, ecology, and breeding and migratory habits, and morphological and plumage differences considered relatively insignificant.

The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

nubicus Gmelin, 1788 - Senegal east to Eritrea, and south to northern Kenya; in austral winter farther southern in northern tropics and in eastern Tanzania.
nubicoides Des Murs and Pucheran, 1846 - Acacia savanna of central and southern Africa.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Northern Carmine Bee-eater see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Articles about the Northern Carmine Bee-eater

If you would like to read any articles about the Northern Carmine Bee-eater...

Show Articles (0)

No Pictures of Northern Carmine Bee-eater

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Northern Carmine Bee-eater or you would like to see more, then try the following...

Show External Images from BING

From BING (10)

No Videos of Northern Carmine Bee-eater

If Birdpedia has no videos of Northern Carmine Bee-eater or you would like to see more, then try the following..

Show External Videos

From BING (0)