Blue-breasted Bee-eater
Merops variegatus
Beautiful bee-eater with a green back, yellow throat, and buffy underparts. The color of the breast band varies geographically. In some parts of the range it is black, but more commonly it is deep iridescent blue, though even this color looks black in most light. In flight, reveals a striking pattern of rufous patches and black bars on the wings and tail. Found in moist, open habitats including savanna, cultivation, and forest edge. Calls are short, wooden rattles. Very similar to Little Bee-eater, but separated with care by slightly larger size and by the pale patch along the top and back of the yellow throat.
Identification
The blue-breasted bee-eater, Merops variegatus, 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. M. variegatus 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<p>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 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.<p>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 band. Its chest band is made up of two colours, a deep purple-blue gorget above a chestnut coloured breastband.<p>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.<p>The little bee-eaters and the cinnamon-chested bee-eater are both very similar to the blue-breasted bee-eater. Although the little bee-eater is similar in voice, behavior and distribution it is smaller than the blue breasted, with a relatively smaller head as well. Furthermore, the little bee-eater lacks the white margin of cheeks present on the blue breasted. The cinnamon-chested bee-eater 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.
Taxonomy
The blue-breasted bee-eater is a member of the family Meropidae. A family whose members are relatively uniform in behavior and morphology, it is a well-defined family within the coraciiform order in class Aves. Meropidae originated in East Asia or Africa, and much of its early diversification occurred in Africa. Meropidae has two major clades, one exclusively made up of African residents while the second one is mostly migrant species found in Asia and Africa.<p>The genus Merops is with in the African resident clade of Meropidae. Historically Merops was split up into six genera which are no longer valid: Bomblonax, Melittophagus, Dicrocercus, Meropiscus, Aerops and Philothurs. Merops variegatus closest relative is M. pusillus, the little bee-eater. They are considered sister tax and make up their own clade. The outgroup to the M. variegatus - M. pusillus clade is M. oreobates, cinnamon-chested bee-eater.<p>The blue-breasted bee-eater has three subspecies; M. v. variegatus, M. v. loringi, and M. v. banweoloensis. The Ethiopian bee-eater (M. lafresnayii) was formerly considered conspecific, but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021. It is now known to be a distinct lineage, being more closely related to M. oreobates than to M. variegatus.
- Scientific name
- Merops variegatus
- Authority
- Vieillot, 1817
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Meropidae
- Genus
- Merops
Range and habitat
Blue breasted bee-eaters are found in many central African countries such as Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Cameroon. 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.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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