White-fronted Bee-eater
Merops bullockoides
A bright and colorful bee-eater; the red throat and white line under the black face mask render it unmistakable. Pairs and groups inhabit woodland adjacent to watercourses, hillsides, and scrub, especially near earthen banks, where nesting colonies are formed by up to 450 individuals burrowing into the dirt. They have one of the most complex of all avian societies, featuring families, clans, and pirates! A nasal rolling “ngyaaau” is the main vocalization.
Identification
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird, but with a distinctive black mask, white forehead, square tail and a bright red throat. The size is 23 cm (9 in.). The upperparts are green, with cinnamon underparts. The call is a deep squeak.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Merops bullockoides
- Authority
- Smith, A, 1834
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Meropidae
- Genus
- Merops
Range and habitat
White-fronted bee-eaters are found in the vast savannah regions of sub-equatorial Africa. The habitat commonly consists of open country, often near gullies, where bees, their prey, live.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
White-fronted bee-eaters nest in colonies averaging 200 individuals, digging, roosting, and nesting holes in cliffs or banks of earth. A population of bee-eaters may range across many square kilometres of savannah, but will come to the same colony to roost, socialize, and to breed. White-fronted bee-eaters have one of the most complex family-based social systems found in birds.<p>Colonies comprise socially monogamous, extended family groups with overlapping generations, known as "clans", which exhibit cooperative breeding. Non-breeding individuals become helpers to relatives and assist to raise their brood. In white-fronted bee-eaters, this helping behavior is particularly well developed, with helpers assisting in half of all nesting attempts. These helpers may contribute to all aspects of the reproductive attempt, from digging the roosting or nesting chamber, to allofeeding the female, incubating and feeding the young; and have a large effect on increasing the number of young produced.<p>Only 50% of non-breeders in a colony typically become helpers, and whether or not an individual becomes a helper and to whom it provides aid is heavily dependent on the degree of kinship involved. Non-breeders are most likely to become helpers when breeding pairs are genetically close relatives. When faced with a choice of potential recipient nests, helpers preferentially help the breeding pair to whom they are most closely related, suggesting that this behaviour may serve to increase the helper's inclusive fitness.<p>Female white-fronted bee-eaters leaving their nesting burrows must avoid pursuit by unmated males who may force them to the ground and rape them. Furthermore, their unwelcome attentions are preferentially against females who are laying eggs and who thus might lay the eggs of their rapist rather than their mate.<p>Their diet is made up primarily of bees, but they also take other flying insects depending on the season and availability of prey. Two hunting methods have been observed. They either make quick hawking flights from lower branches of shrubs and trees, or glide slowly down from their perch and hover briefly to catch insects.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
African Dusky Flycatcher
Muscicapa adusta
A small, dumpy, buff-brownish flycatcher with a pale throat, a short eyebrow in front of the eye, a mostly plain crown, and indistinct mottling on the breast. It prefers thicker woodland and the edges of evergreen and riverine forest, perching at lower and middle levels and sallying to catch insects, or occasionally sitting on the ground. High-pitched “tzeet” and “tsirit” calls often betray its presence. The similar migrant Spotted Flycatcher has a longer tail and wings than the African Dusky Flycatcher, and it also has distinct streaking on the crown. The Gambaga Flycatcher is paler and mostly restricted to arid woodland.
Henderson Island Fruit-Dove
Ptilinopus insularis
Relatively subdued in coloration for a fruit-dove. Has a dusky gray chest and face, a yellow eye-ring, a magenta forehead patch, and mostly green wings and body. An adaptable species found at all elevations. Shares its range with no similar species. Call is typically a long series of “woot” notes, well spaced and gradually descending in pitch.
Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus remifer
An ebony shadow trailing obsidian tresses. Medium-sized drongo with two extravagantly long tail feathers tipped with plumes, the shape of which vary throughout its range. Glossy black overall with red eyes. Juvenile duller and lacks streamers. Can be confused with the larger Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, but Lesser is crestless and oddly flat-headed, with a more square-ended tail. Inhabits mid- to high-altitude tropical forests, where it forages primarily under closed canopies, not venturing out into the open as frequently as Greater Racket-tailed. Joins mixed flocks. Impressive vocal range, giving highly variable songs that include bouncy hoots, ringing whistles, and harsh nasal notes, among others; also mimics other species.
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