31:
75:
1149:
50:
1159:
428:. Within these countries the blue-breasted bee-eaters are found in a variety of habitats, ranging from reedy lake shores to the savanna grass lands bordering the Congo basin. They have also been recorded in marshes, grassy hillsides and papyrus beds. However, this species is usually associated with open wet habitats.
232:
Primary wings are washed with rufous and secondaries are green with black tips. Overall the wings are rounded at the tip compared to the pointed tips of the migratory species in
Meropidae. The tail has twelve rectrices, the outer rectrices are washed with rufous and the center feathers are green. The
511:
Blue breasted bee eaters’ mate at different times of the year depending on their geographic location. In the
Northern reaches of their range breeding occurs from February to March, in the East from October to December, in the South September to October and in the West August to September. Nests are
502:
Blue breasted bee eaters do much of their searching for prey in pairs from a perch. In savanna and forest edge habitats they can be found perched in bushes waiting for prey. They wait for passing prey and then will give horizontal chase and catch their prey in the air. On rare occasions they have
236:
The head of the blue-breasted bee-eater can be distinguished from other members of the family by a combination of characteristics. It has a blue stripe over the black eye stripe, an orange-red iris, a white cheek and a bright yellow throat. Furthermore, like many meropids, they have a wide chest
512:
excavated in grassy hillsides or in eroded lakeshores. The nest consists of a tunnel, measuring from 45 to 75 cm long, which leads to an egg chamber, measuring 17-70 x 18–22 cm. The eggs are kept in the unlined egg chamber during incubation.
272:
which also live in
Ethiopia has the black mask and white cheek like that of the blue breasted bee eater. However, the blue breasted bee eater is smaller and has a much brighter green crown.
225:
exhibits several physically defining characteristics of the
Meropidae. It has a relatively large head, short neck, bright plumage, long curved slim sharp beak and a broad black eyestripe.
244:
Juveniles of the blue-breasted bee-eater have buff flanks and belly. They have a yellow-buff chin that leads to a light green mottled breast. Juveniles also completely lack a chest band.
229:
weights between 20 and 26 g and measures between 18 and 21 cm in length. It is primarily a green bird, with a green crown, green upper parts and light greenish-yellow underparts
743:
Marks, Ben D.; Weckstein, Jason D.; Moyle, Robert G. (2007). "Molecular phylogenetics of the bee-eaters (Aves: Meropidae) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data".
233:
tail has a subterminal black bar and is tipped with white. Furthermore, the tail has a shallow v -shape and is lacking tail-streamers present in other members of the family.
1353:
1392:
1479:
1459:
471:
compared to the rest of
Meropidae. The blue-breasted bee eaters’ diet consists of a wide variety of insect species. However, most of the diet is made up of
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1327:
284:. A family whose members are relatively uniform in behavior and morphology, it is a well-defined family within the coraciiform order in class Aves.
1366:
379:
264:
is similar in voice, behavior and distribution it is smaller than the blue breasted, with a relatively smaller head as well. Furthermore, the
906:
523:
breeder. A mating pair will produce between 2 and 3 eggs. The parents and their offspring will remain very social after the young have
30:
1474:
1469:
417:
1314:
1371:
292:, one exclusively made up of African residents while the second one is mostly migrant species found in Asia and Africa.
849:
Fry, C. H. (2008). "The Social
Organisation of Bee-Eaters (Meropidae) and Co-Operative Breeding in Hot-Climate Birds".
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288:
originated in East Asia or Africa, and much of its early diversification occurred in Africa. Meropidae has two major
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the nest. They can even be found together up until the beginning of the next breeding season.
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Burt, D. Brent (2004). "Plumage-based phylogenetic analyses of the Merops bee-eaters".
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297:
146:
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238:
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59:
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661:. In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.).
1319:
1280:
378:) was formerly considered conspecific, but was split as a distinct species by the
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in 2021. It is now known to be a distinct lineage, being more closely related to
1340:
1211:
764:
492:
468:
1202:
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943:
603:
Fry, C. H. (2008). "The
Evolution and Systematics of Bee-Eaters (Meropidae)".
476:
400:
Blue breasted bee-eaters are found in many central
African countries such as
915:
496:
488:
472:
285:
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210:
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136:
86:
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the little bee-eater. They are considered sister tax and make up their own
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1196:
425:
409:
106:
1332:
1239:
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484:
413:
405:
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205:) is a central African species of bird. It is a member of the family
96:
1345:
1306:
1173:
268:
lacks the white margin of cheeks present on the blue breasted. The
260:
are both very similar to the blue-breasted bee-eater. Although the
237:
band. Its chest band is made up of two colours, a deep purple-blue
209:. Meropids are all visually similar and have a diet specialized in
1301:
331:
302:
289:
658:
116:
1177:
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been observed diving into shallow waters to catch small fish.
480:
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The perching song for this species contains short trills:
313:
Bomblonax, Melittophagus, Dicrocercus, Meropiscus, Aerops
449:
where as the courtship song to a mate is more expanded:
311:
was split up into six genera which are no longer valid:
280:
The blue-breasted bee-eater is a member of the family
515:
Although several species of
Meropidae are known for
1186:
988:
966:
941:
927:
358:The blue-breasted bee-eater has three subspecies;
569:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T61627052A95172403.en
811:"Nests and eggs of the Black-headed Bee-eater (
900:
659:"Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Merops variegatus)"
8:
809:Schmidt, Brian K; Branch, William R (2005).
519:, the blue-breasted bee-eater is a solitary
479:. The rest of their diet is supplemented by
815:) in Gabon, with notes on other bee-eaters"
657:Fry, H.; Boesman, P.; Kirwan, G.M. (2018).
1174:
907:
893:
885:
48:
29:
20:
833:
567:
663:Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive
787:"Species Updates – IOC World Bird List"
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241:above a chestnut coloured breastband.
745:Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
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1480:Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot
1460:IUCN Red List least concern species
555:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
863:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1972.tb02585.x
617:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1969.tb02567.x
14:
1157:
1148:
1147:
727:10.1111/j.1474-919x.2004.00289.x
418:Democratic Republic of the Congo
301:is with in the African resident
73:
544:BirdLife International (2016).
880:Greeting call of perched birds
1:
221:The blue-breasted bee-eater,
697:. London: T & AD Poyser.
353:, cinnamon-chested bee-eater
765:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.07.004
665:. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
467:have a diet specialized in
305:of Meropidae. Historically
1496:
1135:Southern carmine bee-eater
1130:Northern carmine bee-eater
1080:Cinnamon-chested bee-eater
270:cinnamon-chested bee-eater
258:cinnamon-chested bee-eater
1143:
1120:Chestnut-headed bee-eater
1050:Blue-moustached bee-eater
475:workers, flower bees and
175:
168:
70:Scientific classification
68:
46:
37:
28:
23:
1055:Rufous-crowned bee-eater
1030:Swallow-tailed bee-eater
1025:White-throated bee-eater
976:Purple-bearded bee-eater
562:: e.T61627052A95172403.
396:Habitat and distribution
24:Blue-breasted bee-eater
1475:Birds described in 1817
1470:Birds of Central Africa
1100:Blue-throated bee-eater
1070:Blue-breasted bee-eater
1065:White-fronted bee-eater
1020:Arabian green bee-eater
1015:African green bee-eater
980:Blue-breasted bee-eater
197:blue-breasted bee-eater
1085:Black-headed bee-eater
1060:Red-throated bee-eater
1005:Blue-cheeked bee-eater
958:Blue-bearded bee-eater
1045:Blue-headed bee-eater
1035:Blue-tailed bee-eater
1010:Asian green bee-eater
953:Red-bearded bee-eater
461:Members of the genus
517:cooperative breeding
451:turrp p’ti p’ti p’ti
323:closest relative is
1075:Ethiopian bee-eater
757:2007MolPE..45...23M
693:Fry, C. H. (1984).
372:Ethiopian bee-eater
368:M. v. banweoloensis
40:Conservation status
1115:European bee-eater
223:Merops variegatus,
161:M. variegatus
1447:
1446:
1437:Merops-variegatus
1419:Open Tree of Life
1232:Merops_variegatus
1218:Merops variegatus
1188:Merops variegatus
1180:Taxon identifiers
1171:
1170:
1110:Rainbow bee-eater
548:Merops variegatus
321:Merops variegatus
254:little bee-eaters
202:Merops variegatus
193:
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179:Merops variegatus
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1090:Somali bee-eater
1000:Little bee-eater
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360:M. v. variegatus
266:little bee-eater
262:little bee-eater
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1406:Observation.org
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1105:Olive bee-eater
1040:Black bee-eater
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835:10.1.1.519.3038
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16:Species of bird
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1465:Merops (genus)
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1125:Rosy bee-eater
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874:External links
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828:(1–2): 80–81.
813:Merops breweri
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732:
721:(3): 481–492.
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695:The Bee-eaters
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611:(4): 557–592.
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364:M. v. loringi
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340:M. variegatus
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170:Binomial name
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922:: Meropidae)
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790:. Retrieved
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751:(1): 23–32.
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573:. Retrieved
559:
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507:Reproduction
501:
493:grasshoppers
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443:pip, tup-tup
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437:Vocalization
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385:M. oreobates
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1341:iNaturalist
1212:Wikispecies
575:12 November
497:butterflies
345:M. pusillus
326:M. pusillus
217:Description
1454:Categories
1432:Xeno-canto
944:Nyctyornis
916:Bee-eaters
792:2021-06-13
531:References
521:monogamous
317:Philothurs
295:The genus
968:Meropogon
830:CiteSeerX
489:true bugs
473:honey bee
348:clade is
286:Meropidae
282:Meropidae
207:Meropidae
155:Species:
137:Meropidae
93:Kingdom:
87:Eukaryota
1385:61627052
1359:10218059
1258:61627052
1253:BirdLife
1203:Q1123941
1197:Wikidata
1153:Category
857:: 1–14.
773:17716922
432:Behavior
426:Cameroon
410:Tanzania
388:than to
336:outgroup
276:Taxonomy
256:and the
186:Vieillot
133:Family:
107:Chordata
103:Phylum:
97:Animalia
83:Domain:
60:IUCN 3.1
1333:2475429
1307:bbbeat2
1281:bbbeat2
1240:Avibase
1163:Commons
935:Species
822:Ostrich
753:Bibcode
525:fledged
485:beetles
422:Nigeria
338:to the
143:Genus:
123:Order:
113:Class:
58: (
1424:948872
1398:457304
1372:554648
1315:EURING
1271:115152
991:Merops
920:family
832:
771:
495:, and
464:Merops
416:, the
414:Uganda
406:Zambia
402:Angola
370:. The
366:, and
334:. The
308:Merops
298:Merops
290:clades
239:gorget
188:, 1817
148:Merops
1411:71167
1354:IRMNG
1320:33260
1302:eBird
1294:3ZW5R
1278:BOW:
929:Genus
818:(PDF)
481:flies
447:trrip
332:clade
303:clade
1393:NCBI
1380:IUCN
1367:ITIS
1346:2192
1328:GBIF
1266:BOLD
851:Ibis
769:PMID
715:Ibis
605:Ibis
577:2021
560:2016
457:Diet
445:and
424:and
315:and
252:The
195:The
117:Aves
1289:CoL
1227:ADW
859:doi
855:114
761:doi
723:doi
719:146
613:doi
609:111
564:doi
380:IOC
1456::
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