BEE-EATERS: Meropidae

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Bee-eaters are small- to medium-sized birds that are graceful in appearance and actions, and with an alert, upright posture when perched. They are active, colorful, and social birds with a large head; short neck; long, narrow, down-curved bill; green wings with a broad black tailing edge; long, simply patterned tail; long-looking central feathers (in many species); very short legs; and weak feet. Most bee-eaters have bright green upperparts; buff or chestnut colored underparts; various colorful head and facial patterns; and black, blue, or reddish purple eye mask. They usually have a black band on the upper breast, and the chin and throat are snowy, bright yellow, red, or blue. Wings are rounded in forest species, and long and pointed in open country species.

In all species, males and females are similar, though males can be brighter in color than females and usually have longer tail streamers (long central tail feathers). Young bee-eaters are generally less colorful than adults. Adults are 6.7 to 13.8 inches (17 to 35 centimeters) long (including the tail) and weigh between 0.5 and 3.0 ounces (15 and 85 grams).

GEOGRAPHIC RANGE

Bee-eaters range throughout the tropics of the Old World, with their center of population in northern and tropical Africa. They are also found in Madagascar, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Australia.

HABITAT

Bee-eaters live in areas of open, lightly wooded country such as savannas (flat grasslands), woodlands, steppes (large, often treeless, plains), and scrub deserts. Some species prefer rainforests. They are often found near water.

DIET

Bee-eaters eat bees, mostly honey bees, other venomous (poisonous) insects such as wasps, as well as ants, sawflies, and other flying insects. A few species eat large insects, small lizards on the ground, and small fish. They find bees near their hives or around flowering trees and herbs. Most bee-eaters catch their prey in a "sit-and-wait" position, sitting on a perch, finding likely prey, and chasing them down in flights that might cover distances from 150 to 180 feet (50 to 60 meters). They normally return to their perch in order to consume food.

BEHAVIOR AND REPRODUCTION

Bee-eaters are, for the most part, lively birds. Only about five species prefer to live alone. They usually live in colonies (large groups that live dependently together), and prefer to have close contact with each other, often huddling together on a common perch in groups of six or seven. When perched, they move the tail backwards and forwards in a small sweeping motion. They migrate seasonally between breeding and wintering grounds. Their calls sometimes have melodies, while at other times are hoarse cawings.

Reproduction by bee-eaters depends on the species. Some use solitary nesting activities, while others depend on large colonies to help in nesting. Cooperative breeding within colonies is more normal than unaided pair nesting. Courtship rituals between bee-eaters do not exist other than some shared feeding between courting (getting ready to mate) females and males. Males will chase away any rival males when necessary, and call out to neighboring pairs not to approach too closely.

All bee-eaters dig nesting burrows into earthen banks or flat sandy ground, often along rivers, ditches, gullies, and even into aardvark or warthog dens. Nests may be solitary, in groups of two or three, in regular or irregular arrangements along banks, or in large colonies containing up to one thousand or more holes. Burrows may be 1.5 to 9 feet (0.5 to 3 meters) long, depending on the species and soil type. The burrow ends in an unlined chamber nest.

Females lay two to four white eggs in the tropics, and up to seven eggs in drier climates. The incubation period (the time spent sitting on eggs) is eighteen to twenty-three days. Females do most of the incubating at night, while both share sitting duties during the day. Both parents share feeding of the young along with any helpers. Hatchlings are pink, blind, and naked. Their skin soon turns gray, eyes open, and spiny feathers appear. The nestling period (the time it takes young to leave the nest after hatching) is between twenty-four and thrity-two days. After one year, bee-eaters either breed or become a helper to a breeding pair.

BEE-EATERS AND PEOPLE

Overall, people do not affect bee-eaters in any significant way. However, bee-eaters are a great source of enjoyment to birdwatchers.

BEE-RUBBING

Because their prey is poisonous, bee-eaters undertake a complicated process to assure poison is removed before eating. After taking caught prey back to the perch, bee-eaters toss it into the air, catching it with its bill tip. They strike it several times against the perch. In an action called bee-rubbing, bee-eaters grab the insect's tail tip, quickly rubbing the body against the perch to squeeze out the bee's fluid. They gradually grab the insect around its abdomen in order to expel leftover venom, eventually tearing out the stinger and poison glands. The food is then safely swallowed whole.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Bee-eaters are not threatened. However, because they eat only poisonous insects, which are often controlled by humans with the use of pesticides (chemicals used to control pests), they are vulnerable to the effects of such chemicals.

PURPLE-BEARDED BEE-EATER (Meropogon forsteni): SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Physical characteristics: Purple-bearded bee-eaters are easily identified from other bee-eaters because they have a purple-blue head, throat, and breast. They are colorful birds, with dark green upperparts, wings, and tail streamers; dark brown lower belly; green and russet (reddish brown) tail feathers; blackish forehead and crown (the top of a bird's head); chocolate on the sides and back of the neck. The long, broad throat feathers hang over the breast, and the neck and nape feathers form a coat that is sleeked down or fluffed out. When flying, they look mostly green, with broad rounded wings, a longish tail, and short-to medium tail streamers. Purple-bearded bee-eaters are 9.8 to 10.2 inches (25 to 26 centimeters) long without tail streamers that can add up to 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) to its length.

Geographic range: Purple-bearded bee-eaters are the most restricted species, occurring only on the island of Sulawesi (formerly called Celebes), Indonesia.

Habitat: Purple-bearded bee-eaters are found in open areas of rainforests, often in the mid- and upper-canopy (treetop) levels of the forest, on the edges of forests, and in the lowlands where forests meet well-timbered farmland. They range from sea level to 6,070 feet (1,850 meters) in altitude.

Diet: They eat flying insects, including bees, beetles, wasps, and dragonflies. Most of their feeding begins from perches located at the middle and upper canopy of forests. After capturing their food, purple-bearded bee-eaters return to their perch where they beat their prey a few times against the perch.

Behavior and reproduction: Purple-bearded bee-eaters are sedentary birds (tending not to migrate), although they sometimes move to coastal areas for the rainy seasons, and then return to interior areas for dry seasons. They call out a quiet, shrill, high-pitched "szit," or "peet." They excavate burrows in steep banks located near forest streams, cliffs, high-level roads, or banks by forest paths. Little information is available on the reproduction processes used by the birds. However, it is believed that females reproduce at any time of the year.

Purple-bearded bee-eaters and people: Purple-bearded bee-eaters have no special significance to humans.

Conservation status: These bee-eaters are not globally threatened. ∎

EUROPEAN BEE-EATER (Merops apiaster): SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Physical characteristics: European bee-eaters are considered one of the loveliest bee-eaters, with bright color patterns: blue underneath; bronze above; chestnut on top of the head; and golden-yellow around the throat and shoulder. Since this bird is usually seen flying, this color combination is not often seen clearly. Females are slightly paler than males. Juveniles are mainly green and lack any chestnut or gold in their feathers, but still possess pale yellow throats. Adults also have a dark eye stripe; a slender, pointed bill; small feet; and pointed central tail feathers. Adults are 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25 centimeters) long, excluding tail streamers that are about 0.8 inches (2 centimeters) long. European bee-eaters weigh between 1.6 and 2.8 ounces (44 and 78 grams).

Geographic range: European bee-eaters are found in northwest Africa from Morocco to Libya, Mediterranean islands, countries of the northern Mediterranean east through the Middle East to Pakistan, northern India and Afghanistan. A few birds are found in South Africa. Large numbers of European bee-eaters migrate seasonally between breeding areas in Europe and Asia and their wintering grounds in tropical Africa and western India.

Habitat: European bee-eaters like warm, open habitats with rivers, sandy soils, pasturelands, scattered trees, and bushes. They are found in grasslands, open woodlands, pasturelands with scattered trees, and forests in drier habitats.

Diet: European bee-eaters eat mostly insects, mainly bumble bees, honeybees, and wasps, but over 300 species of insect prey have been recorded. They feed primarily from a perch, but may also feed while in flight. They usually hunt within 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) of their nest, but can be found up to 7.2 miles (12 kilometers) away.

Behavior and reproduction: European bee-eaters are sociable birds, giving out loud but attractive "quilp," "prruip," and "kruup" sounds, along with many others. They spend most of their time hunting for food, in graceful flight, but also spend some time perched on bare twigs and telephone wires. They are sometimes a solitary nester, but are more commonly found breeding in colonies, sometimes along with up to 400 other nests. Nests are located in earthen banks or cliffs, and usually consist of an unlined chamber at the burrow's end up to 5 feet (1.5) meters in length. Females lay eggs during May in the southern part of their range, and in June and early July in Russia. South African populations begin breeding in October. Clutch sizes are the largest of any bee-eater, with up to ten eggs, but generally with a range of five or six. Cooperative breeding is common, with about 20 percent of nesting pairs using a helper.

European bee-eaters and people: People persecute European bee-eaters more than any other species of bee-eaters, especially when their territories overlap areas where beekeeping (keeping bees to harvest honey) is common. It is generally considered a pest in all of its range.

Conservation status: European bee-eaters are not globally threatened. ∎

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Books:

del Hoyo, Josep, et al., eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, 1992.

Dickinson, Edward C., ed. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, 3rd ed. Princeton, NJ and Oxford, U.K.: Princeton University Press, 2003.

Forshaw, Joseph, ed. Encyclopedia of Birds, 2nd ed. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1998.

Fry, C. Hilary, and Kathie Fry. Kingfishers, Bee-Eaters and Rollers: A Handbook. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.

Harrison, Colin James Oliver. Birds of the World. London and New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1993.

Perrins, Christopher M., and Alex L.A. Middleton, eds. The Encyclopedia of Birds. New York: Facts on File, 1985.

Stattersfield, Allison, J. and David R. Capper, eds. Threatened Birds of the World: The Official Source for Birds on the IUCN Red List. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife International, 2000.