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14

European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) Alternate name(s): "Bee-eater" German name(s): "(Europäischer) Bienenfresser" Size: 25-29 cm (incl. streamers 0-3 cm); wing span: 36-40 cm Weight: 45-75 g

Europe: Family Group 14 Family Group 14 Table Common Kingfisher European Bee-eater European Roller Common Swift Pallid Swift Alpine Swift Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description European Bee-eaters are relatively large bee-eaters. Their plumage, like those of other species of bee-eaters, is glossy and colourful. Both sexes look alike. Their prominent yellow throat patch is separated from the otherwise light-blue front by a narrow black band. Apart from a pale-yellow and light-blue frons, which extends into inconspicuous supercilia, the crown, as well as the nape of the neck and the centre of the back, is glossy-brown. The eyes are surrounded by black eye stripes. The upperwings have light-blue primaries and glossy-brown secondaries, all with a black edges. Also the grey-brown coverts have a black edge. The underwings are greyish-brown with a prominent black trailing edge, while the tail and streamers are brownish-grey. The irises are red. The long, slightly downcurved bill is black. The legs and feet are greyish-pink. Juveniles have duller colours, with the frontal colours much paler than in adults and the back dominated by vermiculated grey, rather than glossy-brown, hues. They also don't have any tail streamers yet.

Taxonomy, classification See European Bee-eater at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the European Bee-eater is available HERE . European Bee-eaters are a strongly migratory species. Their breeding range extends from North-west Africa via southern Europe around the Mediterranean into south-eastern Europe, small (near-coastal) parts of the Middle East and Asia Minor eastwards into the southern parts of western and central Asia (as far as northern Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan). There is also a small breeding population in the far North of Oman, around Musandam, in the border region with the UAE. They spend the northern winters in tropical and subtropical Africa, either in inland western Africa or in southern central Africa. There is also a resident population in parts of South Africa. During the breeding season European Bee-eaters are usually found only in southern Europe, i.e. most of Iberia, the Cote d'Azure, parts of western Italy, Corsica and Sardinia, and the eastern Adriatic coastline. Except for the High Tatra mountains, they are also found anywhere in a wide swath of south-eastern Europe eastward of the Alps and the Balkans, southward of about 50 degrees latitude, into south-western Asia, around both the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (and beyond). However, some birds reach central Europe, e.g. inland France, Germany and Poland, with rare sightings reported also from England. During the breeding season European Bee-eaters have a preference for relatively open habitats with scattered, or fringe, vegetation, such as e.g. eroded creek beds with steep banks, sandpits or quarries.

Sightings Click here for sighting information D. Wilczynska reports spotting European Bee-eaters near Tykocin, Podlachia, Poland, in May 2016. At the time they were found to be nesting there. S. Cuturilov reports spotting European Bee-eaters at a fish pond near Becej, Serbia, in July 2017. J. Pires reports finding European Bee-eaters regularly during the breeding season in the area of Mora, Evora, Portugal, where they breed annually.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Near-frontal/near-lateral view of a pair of European Bee-eaters; male? [with longer streamers] on the left, female? on the right (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Lateral view of a pair of European Bee-eaters (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2015]

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a European Bee-eater issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Frontal view of a male European Bee-eater issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Frontal view of a European Bee-eater looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2020]

Near-frontal view of a European Bee-eater (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, June 2021]

Near-frontal view of a European Bee-eater looking sideways; the dull colours indicate that this bird may be moulting
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2020]

Near-lateral view of a European Bee-eater (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, June 2021]

Lateral view of a European Bee-eater (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Lateral view of a European Bee-eater on a power line (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a European Bee-eater (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a European Bee-eater looking backwards (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Parque Ecologico do Gameiro, Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a European Bee-eater (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a female European Bee-eater, now seen preening (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]

Dorsal view of a European Bee-eater (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a European Bee-eater in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Lateral view of a European Bee-eater banking sharply (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Lateral view of a European Bee-eater in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, August 2022]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a juvenile European Bee-eater; note the pale colours and the absence of tail streamers
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile European Bee-eater (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira de Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Braganca, Portugal, July 2022]

Lateral/ventral view of a juvenile European Bee-eater in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, July 2019]

Ventral view of a juvenile European Bee-eater in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, August 2022]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jun - Aug(?)

Eggs: 5 - 8

Incubation period: ca. 21 days

Fledging age: ?

Nest building: Female & male(?)

Incubation: Female(?)

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

Type: Tunnel

Material: Sand

Height above ground: N/A

Overview of a steep bank with European Bee-eater nest tunnels (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Tykocin, Podlachia, Poland, May 2016]

Overview of a vertical bank with European Bee-eater nest tunnels (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2013]

European Bee-eater nest tunnel in a flat meadow (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2020]

European Bee-eaters working on the nest tunnel shown above (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2020]

Lateral view of a European Bee-eater in breeding plumage working on its nest tunnel (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Eggs

Size: 27 x 22 mm

Colour: Glossy white

Shape: Rounded

Behaviour

Lateral view of a European Bee-eater basking in the sun (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

European Bee-eaters [and a Common Starling] hovering, hoping to catch prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Food, Diet

Like other bee-eaters, European Bee-eaters are insect hunters. They have a strong preference for European honey bees, Apis mellifera, and dragonflies, which they catch in-flight before returning to their perch, whacking the prey to death and detaching the wings, before swallowing the insect's body.

Near-lateral view of a European Bee-eater with its prey, a bee (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a European Bee-eater with its prey, which looks like a cricket (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2013]

Two European Bee-eaters, one of which has caught an insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2018]

European Bee-eaters, at least one of which [on the right] with its prey (photo courtesy of S. Cuturilov)
[Near Becej, Serbia, July 2017]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

eurbeat_jp_20190704.m4a	(Portugal)	Contact calls	© JP
eurbeat_jp_20200614.m4a	(Portugal)	Contact calls	© JP
eurbeat_jp_20190704_2.m4a	(Portugal)	Warning calls(?)	© JP

More European Bee-eater sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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