From Opus

This article is incomplete. This article is missing one or more sections. You can help the BirdForum Opus by expanding it.

Photo of male by Steve G
Kakamega Forest, Kenya, July, 2011

Includes Blue-moustached Bee-eater

Merops muelleri

[edit] Identification

[edit] Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo
Eastern Africa: Kenya
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands, Bioko (Fernando Po)

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are 2 subspecies:

• M. m. mentalis:

• Mali and Sierra Leone to Cameroon (Douala)

• M. m. muelleri:

• Congo basin (Cameroon to Kenya and Zaire)

A proposal has surfaced to split this into two species, with Merops mentalis becoming Blue-moustached Bee-eater. This is not currently accepted by many world wide checklists, and the Opus is therefore not following suit at this time.

[edit] Habitat

Canopy of lowland rain forest.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes small butterflies, honeybees and other large insects.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Birdforum thread with among other things discussion of possible split of this species
4. Kenyabirds
5. thewebsiteof everything

• List of references

[edit] External Links