Red-throated Bee-eater (Merops bulocki) [XC405684]
by Peter Boesman from Badala (fleuve Gambie), K\u00e9dougou, Senegal (call)
Red-throated Bee-eater (Merops bulocki) [XC425443]
by Peter Boesman from Janjanbureh, Janjanbureh, Central River, Gambia (call)
Subspecies
Has been placed with other small, round-winged species lacking tail-streamers in genus Mellitophagus, comprising present species and Blue-headed Bee-eater (Merops muelleri), Black Bee-eater (Merops gularis), Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus), Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Merops variegatus), Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (Merops oreobates) and White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides). Forms a superspecies with White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides), with which sometimes treated as conspecific. A rare yellow-throated variant was first described as a separate species, Merops boleslavskii. Species name sometimes emended to bullocki, but this is unjustified due to lack of internal evidence to this effect in initial description, so original spelling should stand.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
bulocki Vieillot, 1817 - Senegal east to Central African Republic.
frenatus Hartlaub, 1854 - Western Ethiopia, southern Sudan, north-eastern Zaire and north-western Uganda.