European Bee-eater
Merops apiaster
To avoid being stung, the bee-eater repeatedly hits the insect against a hard surface to discharge the venom and remove the stinger.
- Scientific name
- Merops apiaster
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Coraciiformes › Meropidae › Merops
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Open country, riverbanks with sandy cliffs, pastures, and shrublands.
- Diet
- Flying insects, specifically bees, wasps, hornets, and dragonflies.
- Range
- Southern Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa (wintering)
- Size
- 27-29 cm in length; wingspan of 44-49 cm.
- Lifespan
- 5-6 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Pesticide use reducing prey availability, habitat loss, and human disturbance of nesting banks.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless to humans. These birds are shy; maintain a distance of at least 20 meters to avoid disturbing their flight patterns or nesting burrows. They do not pose a physical threat to people.
The European bee-eater ( Merops apiaster ) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. The genus name Merops is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater", and apiaster is Latin, also meaning "bee-eater", from apis , "bee". It breeds in southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia. It is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa. This species occurs as a spring overshoot north of its range, with occasional breeding in northwest Europe.
Photo: Sem Khatov, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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