Swallow-tailed Bee-eater ( Merops hirundineus, family: Meropidae)
The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater (Latin name Merops hirundineus) is
described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird
has a unique Roberts number of 445 and you will find a full description
of this bird on page 188 also a picture of the Swallow-tailed Bee-eater
on page 192. The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater belongs to the family of birds
classified as Meropidae.
The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps
The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.
In terms of distribution of the Swallow-tailed Bee-eater in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Swallow-tailed Bee-eater has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is about 21 cms and its weight is about 23 gms
The male and female Swallow-tailed Bee-eater have the same plumage and colours
- Head is bronze, green.
- Eye is orange.
- Bill is black.
- Throat is yellow.
- Back is bronze, green.
- Legs are black.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater feeds on wing mainly
Invertebrates
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Merops hirundineus will seek out a new mate
The nesting habit of Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is to create the nest in a hole in the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 4
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Swallow-tailed Bee-eater are: woodlands
You can expect to see Swallow-tailed Bee-eater in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Swaelstertbyvreter
German ... Schwalbenschwanzspint Gabelschwanzspint
Portuguese ... Abelharuco-andorinha
French ... Gupier queue d'aronde
Dutch ... Zwaluwstaartbijeneter
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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 445
The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za
