The red-throated bee-eater (''Merops bulocki'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Meropidae. This species is native to the

Sudan (region) Sudan is the geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to Central and Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic ' () and ' (), both meaning "the land of the Africans, Blacks", referring to West Africa ...

. It has a wide range and large total population, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

Description

The adult red-throated bee eater grows to about in length with a moderately long tail but no streamers. The upper parts are green and the red chin and throat are distinctive, though about 1% of individuals have a yellow throat. The hind neck, breast and underparts are buff, and the under-tail coverts and thighs are bright blue. To the east of the Central African Republic, the birds have blue facial features while to the west these features are green.

Distribution and habitat

The red-throated bee-eater has a wide distribution across tropical Africa, its range extending from Senegal and Gambia in the west to Uganda, southern Sudan, and Ethiopia in the east. Its typical habitat is savannah with scattered trees, farmland with trees, the edges of marshes, bushy pastures and gardens, but the birds are seldom to be found far from the erosion gullies, streams and small rivers, in the banks of which they nest. Red-throated bee-eater nest

Ecology

The red-throated bee-eater is a colonial species, nesting in groups and remaining in the nesting area all year round. The nests are tunnels, excavated before the ground dries after the rainy season, the colony having up to about fifty nests. The diet of these birds consists mostly of honey-bees and stingless bees, as well as other insects. When foraging, a pair or a few individuals move around together, and can sometimes be seen perched in a row side by side.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q569251 red-throated bee-eater Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa red-throated bee-eater Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot