From Opus

Photo by Gordon Hodgson
River Cess County, Liberia, West Africa, January 2007

Merops gularis

[edit] Identification

20cm.

• Mainly black
• Scarlet chin and throat,
• Streaky breast
• Pale blue eyebrow, belly, undertail-coverts and rump
• Rufous primaries

[edit] Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Uganda

[edit] Taxonomy

There are 2 subspecies

• M. g. gularis:

• Rainforests of Sierra Leone to Nigeria (Cross River)

• M. g. australis:

• Nigeria (Cross River) to Uganda and northern Angola

[edit] Habitat

Clearings and stream edges in rainforest, secondary forest, wooded farmland, and gallery forest.

[edit] Behaviour

Forages high in tree canopy.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links