From Opus

Merops hirundineus

Photo by Mybs
Photo taken: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa (1,200 km's NW of Cape Town).

[edit] Identification

20-22cm. Green, yellow throat, blue gorget and black eye stripe and beak. Sexes are alike.

[edit] Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

Four subspecies are recognised. These, with their distributions, are as follows:

• Merops hirundineus hirundineus (Southern Africa: SA north to Angola and Zambia)
• M. h. chrysolaimus (West Africa: Senegambia to CAR)
• M. h. heuglini (East Africa: Uganda to Ethiopia)
• M. h. furcatas (South-Central Africa: southern DRC and Kenya south to Angola and Mozambique)

[edit] Habitat

Savanna woodlands.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air.

They nest in sandy banks, or similar flat ground. They make a relatively long tunnel in which the 2 to 4 spherical, white eggs are laid. These birds feed and roost communally.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist

[edit] External Links