Merops pusillus (Little bee-eater)

Merops pusillus (Little bee-eater)

Kleinbyvreter [Afrikaans]; iNkotha (also applied to Woodland kingfisher) [Zulu]; Tinziwolana (generic term for bee-eater) [Tsonga]; Morôkapula (generic term for bee-eater) [Tswana]; Dwergbijeneter [Dutch]; Guêpier nain [French]; Zwergspint, Zwergbienenfresser [German]; Abelharuco-dourado [Portuguese]

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Tetrapoda (four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Reptilia (reptiles) > Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria > Dinosauria (dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) > Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves (birds) > Order: Coraciiformes > Family: Meropidae

Little bee-eater. [photo Andries Steenkamp ©]

The Little bee-eater is probably the most common bee-eater in Africa, with an estimated population of 60-86 birds! It occurs everywhere in sub-Saharan Africa except the Lowland forest areas of West Africa, and the western half of southern Africa, where it mainly lives in savanna. It feeds mostly on bees, as well as dragonflies, wasps etc. Both sexes excavate the nest, which consists of a long tunnel, ending in an egg chamber, dug into riverbanks or ditches. It lays 2-6 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes, for 18-20 days. The chicks stay in the nest for 23-24 days, after which they are dependent on their parents for several weeks more.

Distribution and habitat

It is probably the most common bee-eater in Africa, with an estimated population of 60-86 million birds! It occurs from Mauritania to Ethiopia and Somalia, continuing south to Zimbabwe, Botswana and north-eastern South Africa. It prefers to live in dry and moist savanna, in drier parts of marshes, lake shores, riverbanks, farmland and grassy clearings in forests.

Distribution of Little bee-eater in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common). See here for the latest distribution from the SABAP2.

Food

It exclusively eats insects, such as bees, dragonflies etc. It hunts from low perches, hawking insects aerially, before returning to its perch to beat them to death. The following insects have been recorded in its diet:

Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants), including
- Spider-hunting wasps
- Vespid wasps
- Chalcid wasps
- Scolid wasps
Diptera (flies)
- Ichneumon flies
- Lacewings
- Caddis flies
- Tsetse flies
Coleoptera (beetles)
crickets (Orthoptera)
- Pygmy mole crickets
Hemiptera (bugs)
butterflies (Lepidoptera)
antlions
termites
cockroaches
Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)
mayflies

Breeding

Both sexes excavate the nest, which consists of a tunnel 0.5-1.3 m long, ending in a 10 cm wide egg chamber. It is usually dug into high, sandy banks such as riverbanks, ditches or plough furrows.
Egg-laying season is from August-February, peaking from September-December.
It lays 2-6 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes, for 18-20 days.
The chicks stay in the nest for 23-24 days, after which they are dependent on their parents for several weeks more.

Threats

Not threatened.

References

Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.