From Opus

Photo by Tully
Photo taken: Hell's Gate National Park, Rift Valley, Kenya, July 2006

Merops bullockoides

[edit] Identification

• Green upperparts
• Cinnamon underparts
• Black mask
• White forehead,
• Bright red throat
• Square tail
• Dark trailing edge to wings, visible in flight

[edit] Distribution

Widespread throughout sub-equatorial Africa:
Western Africa: Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland

[edit] Taxonomy

Merops bullockoides has two subspecies.¹

• M. b. bullockoides:

• Semi-arid savannas in central and southern Africa.

• M. b. randorum:

• Highlands of southern Tanzania

Photo by DARKROOM IMAGES
Chobe National Park, Botswana, September 2008

[edit] Habitat

Sandbanks near rivers, savanna and open country. Wetlands, broadleaf woodland and wooded riverbanks

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

They nest in colonies, roosting and nesting in holes in cliffs or banks of earth.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes mainly bees and other flying insects.

[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
4. TrekNature
5. BF member observations

[edit] External Links