European Bee-eater
Merops apiaster
Aerial. Forehead and underbody blue; throat yellow; upperparts chestnut and green.
Bee-eaters
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Common resident and summer visitor. Identified by gold-and-brown mantle, turquoise-blue forehead and underparts and yellow throat. The call in flight is diagnostic, a clear, liquid ‘quilp’ or ‘kwirry’. Occurs in flockssanywhere, often mixing with other bee-eaters or perching on roadside telephone wires. Flocks frequently fly at great height.
Quick Facts
Size
25-29 cm - M
Names
A: Europese Byvreter
Z: inkothanyosi
Ss: Thlapolome Ya Leboya
G: Europäischer Bienenfresser
Bird Family
Colourful, aerial-feeding birds with long decurved bills, many with elongated tail-feathers (absent in immatures). Most occur in flocks, catching flying insects while twisting and turning in graceful aerial manoeuvres or by hawking them from a perch in short aerial sallies, usually returning to the same perch to eat their prey. Immatures are dull versions of the adults. Sexes are alike.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
