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[HBW - BirdLife (v3)]
16/05/2024 12:46:22 PM
Species Details [Taxonomy: HBW - BirdLife (v3)]
LC
Little Bee-eater*
Id (Atlas):
Merops pusillus
Description (9 )
Little Bee-eater
© lightstalking.com
Family
Meropidae (Bee-eaters)
Size
15 - 17 cm
First Described (Guide )
Müller, 1776
Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland dry grassland and shrubland, moist forest, inland wetlands, dry savanna, arable land.
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Population
Estimated population is 85,000,000 (2010).
Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet .
Food
Insects, especially bees, wasps, hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.
Voice
A soft 'seep'. Usually silent.
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (23)... )
Listen to XC339279
Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus ) [XC339279 ]
by Peter Boesman from Chiengi area, Luapula province, Zambia (call)
Listen to XC515792
Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus ) [XC515792 ]
by Tony Archer from Kilombero river (sailing on the river), near Ifakara bridge, Ulanga, Morogoro Region, Tanzania (call)
Nest
In a chamber at the end of a tunnel made in a sandy bank.
Eggs (Guide )
Clutch Size: 4 - 6
Color: white
Dimensions: (spherical)
Incubation: by both sexes
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 ), 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 all intergrade along narrow corridor where respective ranges meet.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
pusillus Müller, 1776 - Senegal and Guinea east to central Sudan (to c. 29º east).
ocularis (Reichenow, 1900) - From central Sudan east to Red Sea coast of Eritrea, south to north-eastern Zaire and north-western Uganda.
cyanostictus Cabanis, 1869 - Somalia and eastern Kenya.
meridionalis (Sharpe, 1892) - Eastern Africa (except eastern Kenya), and from equator south to Angola and Natal.
argutus Clancey, 1967 - South-western Angola, northern Namibia, northern and eastern Botswana, south-western Zimbabwe.
References
See References .
Files:
BirdLife International
For more information about the Little Bee-eater see... BirdLife International Species Factsheet .
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