Little Bee-eater
Merops pusillus
Riverine bush. Yellow throat separated from rufous underparts by a V-shaped black band on upper breast.
Bee-eaters
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Common resident. Identified by small size, yellow throat, orange-buff underparts and squarish tail. Immature lacks the black collar and has pale green underparts. The call is a quiet ‘chip, chip, trree-trree-trree’. Occurs in pairs or groups near rivers and in open areas in any woodland or thornveld, usually hawking from some low branch or fence.
Quick Facts
Size
17 cm - S
Names
A: Kleinbyvreter
Z: iNkothana
Ss: Thlapolome E Nnyenyane
G: Zwergspint, Zwergbienenfresser
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
Occurs in pairs or groups near rivers and in open areas in any woodland or thornveld, usually hawking from some low branch or fence.
