365 Days | From 9am till sunset
GR | EN
Carmine bee-eater

Carmine bee-eater

Adopt it!

Scientific Name:

Merops nubicus


Distribution

Senegal E to Eritrea, S to N Kenya and S Somalia.


Diet:

Insectivore. Grasshoppers, honeybees, wasps, bugs, butterflies, flying ants, dragonflies.


Facts

Habitat: Savannas, wetlands.


Incubation: ~21 days / 2-5 eggs


Social structure: Huge breeding colonies of up to 1.000 nests


Weight: max. 60gr


Dimensions: max. 27cm


Lifespan: ~7 years under human care


Estimated population in the wild: unknown. Locally common.


Threats: Habitat destruction due to rising water levels in some lakes and bank collapse caused by speedboat generated waves and constant water level changes as a result of hydro-electric dams.


IUCN Status: Least concern


Did you know that:

  1. They follow and sit on animals to catch insects rising from the vegetation as they pass.
  2. They nest in riverside cliffs faces. Both parents excavate the burrow which is straight and slightly declining with a diameter of about 6 cm and a length of 1 - 2m and occasionally 3 -7m. At the end of the burrow there is an oval nest-chamber.



Search our animals :



Search our animals alphabetically