Little bee-eater

Little bee-eater
M. p. argutus, Namibia
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Meropidae
Genus:	Merops
Species:	M. pusillus
Binomial name
Merops pusillus Müller, PLS, 1776
Synonyms
Melittophagus pusillus

The little bee-eater (Merops pusillus) is a

Members of this species, like other bee-eaters, are rich and brightly coloured slender birds. They have green upper parts, yellow throats, black gorgets, and rich brown upper breasts fading to buffish ochre on the belly.[4] Their wings are green and brown.^[5] Their beaks and legs are black.^[6] They reach a length of 15–17 cm, which makes them the smallest African bee-eater. Sexes are alike. Often silent, their call is a soft "seep".

These are abundant and tame birds, familiar throughout their range. There have been estimated to be between 60 and 80 million little bee-eaters. They breed in open country with bushes, preferably near water. Just as the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, who are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. This species often hunts from low perches, maybe only a metre or less high. Before eating their meal, a bee-eater removes the stinger by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface.

Unlike most bee-eaters, these are solitary nesters, making a tunnel in sandy banks, or sometimes in the entrance to an Aardvark den. They lay 4 to 6 spherical white eggs. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs. These birds roost communally, lined up on a tree branch.

Subspecies and plumages

• 
  Male and juvenile female
• 
  Hann Park, Dakar, Senegal
• 
  M. p. pusillus, Gambia
• 
  M. p. meridionalis
  Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
• 
  At Maasai Mara, Kenya

References