Blue-breasted Bee-eater
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The blue-breasted bee-eater (''Merops variegatus'') is a central African species of bird. It is a member of the family
Meropidae The bee-eaters are a group of birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty-one species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by richly co ...
. Meropids are all visually similar and have a diet specialized in Hymenopterans.


Description

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. 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. 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 A gorget ( ; ) was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the English medieval clothing, medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon (headgear), chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather Collar (c ...
above a chestnut coloured breastband. 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.


Similar species

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 The bee-eaters are a group of birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty-one species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by richly co ...
. 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 The bee-eaters are a group of birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty-one species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by richly co ...
originated in East Asia or Africa, and much of its early diversification occurred in Africa. Meropidae has two major
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
s, one exclusively made up of African residents while the second one is mostly migrant species found in Asia and Africa. The genus ''
Merops MEROPS is an online database for peptidases (also known as proteases, proteinases and proteolytic enzymes) and their inhibitors. The classification scheme for peptidases was published by Rawlings & Barrett in 1993, and that for protein inhibito ...
'' is with in the African resident
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
of Meropidae. Historically ''
Merops MEROPS is an online database for peptidases (also known as proteases, proteinases and proteolytic enzymes) and their inhibitors. The classification scheme for peptidases was published by Rawlings & Barrett in 1993, and that for protein inhibito ...
'' 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 In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
. The
outgroup Outgroup may refer to: * Outgroup (cladistics), an evolutionary-history concept * Outgroup (sociology) In social psychology and sociology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By cont ...
to the ''M. variegatus'' - '' M. pusillus'' clade is '' M. oreobates, cinnamon-chested bee-eater''. 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 The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...
in 2021. It is now known to be a distinct lineage, being more closely related to '' M. oreobates'' than to ''M. variegatus''.


Habitat and distribution

Blue breasted bee-eaters are found in many central African countries such as
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
,
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
,
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
,
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
,
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
and
Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. 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.


Behavior


Vocalization

The perching song for this species contains short trills: ''pip, tup-tup'' and ''trrip'' where as the courtship song to a mate is more expanded: ''turrp p’ti p’ti p’ti''.


Diet

Members of the genus ''
Merops MEROPS is an online database for peptidases (also known as proteases, proteinases and proteolytic enzymes) and their inhibitors. The classification scheme for peptidases was published by Rawlings & Barrett in 1993, and that for protein inhibito ...
'' have a diet specialized in
hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...
ns 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
honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...
workers, flower bees and Halictid bees. The rest of their diet is supplemented by
flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...
,
beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s,
true bugs Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They ...
,
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
s, and
butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
. 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 been observed diving into shallow waters to catch small fish.


Reproduction

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 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. Although several species of Meropidae are known for
cooperative breeding Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group s ...
, the blue-breasted bee-eater is a solitary
monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...
breeder. A mating pair will produce between 2 and 3 eggs. The parents and their offspring will remain very social after the young have
fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...
d the nest. They can even be found together up until the beginning of the next breeding season.


References


External links


Greeting call of perched birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1123941 blue-breasted bee-eater Birds of Central Africa blue-breasted bee-eater Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot