- Merops gularis
Identification
20cm (8 in).
- Mainly black
- Scarlet chin and throat
- Blue forehead and supercilium, sometimes a blue line under the eye
- Streaky breast
- Blue belly, undertail-coverts and rump
- Rufous primaries
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
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies
- M. g. gularis:
- Rainforests of Sierra Leone to Nigeria (Cross River)
- M. g. australis:
Habitat
Forest edges, clearings and stream edges in rainforest, secondary forest, wooded farmland, and gallery forest and plantations.
Behaviour
Diet
The forage high in tree canopy for winged insects such as bees, wasps, ants, butterflies and dragonflies.
Breeding
They excavate a burrow in which to lay their eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2017)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Bee-eater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Bee-eater
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
