Little bee-eater
{{Short description|Species of bird from Sub-Saharan Africa}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Little bee-eater (Merops pusillus argutus) Namibia.jpg
| image_caption = M. p. argutus, Namibia
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Merops pusillus
| authority = Müller, PLS, 1776
| synonyms = * Melittophagus pusillus
}}
The little bee-eater (Merops pusillus) is a bird species in the bee-eater family, Meropidae.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPfUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA473 |page=473 |title=Birds of the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Socotra |author1=Nigel Redman |author2=Terry Stevenson |author3=John Fanshawe |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2010|isbn=9781408135761 }} They are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgESDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 |page=120 |title=Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World |author=Eugene M. McCarthy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006|isbn=978-0-19-518323-8 }} They should not be confused with the little green bee-eater (Merops orientalis). Migration is limited to seasonal movements depending on rainfall patterns.
Description
Members of this species, like other bee-eaters, are rich and brightly coloured slender birds. They have green upper parts, yellow throats, black gorgets, and rich brown upper breasts fading to buffish ochre on the belly.{{cite book |page=244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OYSE0bFjlzYC&pg=PA244 |title=Birds of the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Socotra |author1=Nigel Redman |author2=Terry Stevenson |author3=John Fanshawe |publisher=A&C Black |year=2020| isbn=9781408125809 }} Their wings are green and brown.{{Cite web |date=2021-09-16 |title=Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) |url=https://beautyofbirds.com/little-bee-eaters/ |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=beautyofbirds.com |language=en-US}} Their beaks and legs are black.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H2lhAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA363 |page=363 |title=The Ibis: journal of the British Ornithologists' Union |volume=4 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=1874}} They reach a length of 15–17 cm, which makes them the smallest African bee-eater. Sexes are alike. Often silent, their call is a soft "seep".
Ecology
These are abundant and tame birds, familiar throughout their range. There have been estimated to be between 60 and 80 million little bee-eaters. They breed in open country with bushes, preferably near water. Just as the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, who are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. This species often hunts from low perches, maybe only a metre or less high. Before eating their meal, a bee-eater removes the stinger by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface.
Unlike most bee-eaters, these are solitary nesters, making a tunnel in sandy banks, or sometimes in the entrance to an Aardvark den. They lay 4 to 6 spherical white eggs. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs. These birds roost communally, lined up on a tree branch.
Subspecies and plumages
Image:Merops pusillus00a.jpg|Male and juvenile female
File:Flickr - tj.haslam - Little Bee-Eater (Merops pusillus).jpg|Hann Park, Dakar, Senegal
Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus pusillus), Kotu Beach, Gambia.jpg|M. p. pusillus, Gambia
Little_Bee-eater.jpeg|M. p. meridionalis
Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
Little Bee-eater SS.jpg|At Maasai Mara, Kenya
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{Cite book |last1=Fry |first1=C. Hilary |title=Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers |last2=Fry |first2=Kathie |others=Illustrated by Alan Harris |year=1992 |publisher=Christopher Helm |isbn=0-7136-8028-8}}
- {{Cite book |title=The Hamlyn photographic guide to birds of the world |editor-first=Andrew |editor-last=Gosler |location=London |publisher=Hamlyn |others=Foreword by Christopher Perrins |date=1991 |isbn=0-600-57239-0}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Merops pusillus|Merops pusillus}}
- Little bee-eater – [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/444.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds].
{{Bee-eaters}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q244368}}