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CORACIIFORMES

The Coraciiformes are very colorful birds. The order is composed of the following families:
Bee-Eaters: Meropidae  Kingfishers: Alcedinidae   Motmots: Momotidae    Todies: Todidae
Rollers: Brachypteraciidae (Ground Rollers), Coraciidae (Rollers) , Leptosomidae (Cuckoo Roller)

Bee-eaters

Order Coraciiformes    Family Meropidae

Most bee-eater species are found in Africa and Asia, but some occur in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterized by richly colored plumage, slender bodies, and usually elongated central tail feathers. All have long downturned bills and pointed wings, which give them a swallow-like appearance when seen from afar. While they eat any type of flying insect, honey bees predominate in their diet. The birds only catch prey that are on the wing and ignore flying insects once they land. Before eating its meal, a bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting and rubbing the insect on a hard surface. During this process, pressure is applied to the insect thereby extracting most of the venom.


Genus Meropogon - 1 species

Bee-eater,_Purple-bearded Meropogon forsteni  Found: Sulawesi of Indonesia
The male Purple-bearded Bee-eater has green upperparts, wings, tail; purple head, "beard", breast; elongated central tail feathers; reddish-brown lower belly; chestnut under-tail. Female similar but fore-belly is reddish-brown, not purple.
Image by: 1, 2) Francesco_Veronesi



Genus Merops

Bee-eater,_Black Merops gularis  Found: Africa
The Black Bee-eater has mainly black plumage; scarlet chin, throat; pale blue supercilium; streaked breast.
Image by: 1) P_Khoo  2) Ron_Knight  3) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana  4) Nik_Borrow - Ghana


Bee-eater,_Black-headed Merops breweri  Found: tropical central and west Africa
The Black-headed Bee-eater has green upperparts; black head; buff underparts; rufous breast-band.
Image by: 1) Otto_Koehler


Bee-eater,_Blue-breasted Merops variegatus   Found: Africa
The Blue-breasted Bee-eater has green upperparts; yellowish-buff underparts;yellow throat; blue or black gorget; black eye-line with blue above.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  2) Harisankar - Ethiopia  3) Ron Knight  4) Fabrice_Stoger - Zambia  5) Dick - Tanzania  6) Bjorn_Christian_Torrissen - Kenya  



Bee-eater,_Blue-cheeked  Merops persicus  Found: Africa, Asia
The Blue-cheeked Bee-eater has mainly green plumage; blue-sided face; black eye-line, bill; yellow and brown throat.
Similar to: Swallow-tailed Bee-eater.  Swallow-tailed Bee-eater has a forked tail; Blue-cheeked Bee-eater does not. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater has blue above and below the eye-line; Swallow-tailed has blue only below the eye-line.
Image by: 1) Koshy Koshy  2) Charles_J_Sharp - Senegal  3) Brian_Ralphs - Mozamibque  4) Nik_Borrow - Sierra Leone


Bee-eater,_Blue-headed  Merops muelleri  Found: Africa
The Blue-headed Bee-eater has brown upperparts; blue head, tail, underparts.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya  2) Daniele_Colombo - Kenya 


Bee-eater,_Blue-moustached Merops mentalis  Found: Ghana
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana  2) Nik_Borrow - Ghana


Bee-eater,_Blue-tailed  Merops philippinus  Found: Asia
The Blue-tailed Bee-eater has mainly green plumage; black eye-line with a little blue underneath; yellow and brown throat; blue tail; black bill. This species probably takes bees and dragonflies in roughly equal numbers.
Image by: 1) Lip Kee - Malaysia  2, 5) Ravi Vaidyanathan - Mumbai  3) Charles_J_Sharp  4) Imrun_Shah - Pakistan  6) Gaurika_Wijeratne - Sri Lanka 



Bee-eater,_Blue-throated Merops viridis  Found: southeast Asia
Image by: 1) Charles_J_Sharp - Malaysia  2) Lip_Kee - Singapore  3) Hiyashi_Haka  4) LonelyShrimp


Bee-eater,_Boehm's also Bohm's Bee-eater Merops boehmi  Found: DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia
Image by: 1, 2) Francesco_Veronesi - Malawi  3) Nik Borrows - Malawi  4) DJ_Cockburn


Bee-eater,_Chestnut-headed  Merops leschenaulti  Found: Asia
The Chestnut-headed Bee-eater has green upperparts; chestnut crown, nape; yellow throat; black eye-stripe; blue rump; black bill. It ranges from India east to Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Image by: 1) JJ Harrison - Thailand  2) Ron Knight - Thailand  3) Mike_Prince  4) Ainus 


Bee-eater,_Cinnamon-chested  Merops oreobates  Found: Africa
The Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater has chestnut breast; green tail with black band and white tip; yellow throat; white cheek patch; black eye-line, gorget (collar line).
SImilar to: Little Bee-eater.  Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater is larger than Little Bee-eater and has a white cheek patch. Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater found at higher altitudes.
Image by:   1) Stephen Nawrocki - Rwanda    2) Lip Kee - Tanzania   3, 4) Charles_J_Sharp - Kenya


Bee-eater,_Eurasian also European Bee-Eater   Merops apiaster   Found: Europe, Africa, Asia
The Eurasian Bee-eater has brown and yellow upperparts; green wings; yellow throat; black bill.
Image by: 1) Arno Meintjes    2) William Kreijkes  3) Jose Arino - Spain  
   4) Agustin_Povedano - Spain  5) Cristiano Crolle - Isola della Cona, Italy



Bee-eater,_Green  Merops orientalis   Found: Africa, Asia 
The Green Bee-eater has mainly green plumage; crown tinged with golden-rufous; some blue on the chin; black eye-line, black; elongated tail feathers.
Image by: 1) Raghu Peethambaran   2) J M Garg   3) Shantanu_Kuveskar - India  4) Sunil_Elias - India


Bee-eater,_Little Merops pusillus   Found: Africa (central)
The Little Bee-eater has green upperparts; buff yellow underparts; yellow throat; black eye-line, gorget (collar). It is the smallest African bee-eater. Hunts from low perches, about a meter high.
SImilar to: Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater.  Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater is larger than Little Bee-eater and has a white cheek patch. Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater found at higher altitudes.
Image by: 1) Steve Garvie at Buffalo Springs NP, Kenya. 2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - Nairobi National Park, Kenya


Bee-eater,_Northern_Carmine  Merops nubicus  Found: Africa
The Northern Carmine Bee-eater has carmine upperparts; dark greenish-blue head' turquoise belly.
Similar to: No other African bee-easter has a dark head.
Image by: 1) Steve Garvie near Watamu, coastal Kenya  2) J V Verde - Gambia  3) Bernard Dupont - Uganda   4) Viatour_Luc     5,  6) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia   7) Frans_Vandewalle



Bee-eater,_Olive  also Madagascar Bee-eater  Merops superciliosus  Found: east Africa, Madagascar
The Olive Bee-eater has olive upperparts; black eye-line with white lines above and below.
Image by: 1) Frank Vassen - Madagascar  2, 3) Steve Garvie (edited) - Kenya   4) Werner_Witte    5) Dick Daniels - Madagascar 



Bee-eater,_Rainbow  Merops ornatus  Found: Australia
The Rainbow Bee-eater has green upper back, wings; blue lower back, under tail coverts; yellow crown, throat, breast; black tail, eye-line; red eye.
Image by: 1) birdsaspoetry    2, 3, 4) David Cook  5) patrickkavanagh  6) JJ_Harrison 



Bee-eater,_Red-throated  Merops bulocki  Found: Africa 
The Red-throated Bee-eater has mainly red plumage; black eye-stripe; blue tail - underside at base.
Image by:  1, 3) Frans_Vandewalle - Senegal, Gambia  2) Nik_Borrow - Uganda  4) Allan_Hopkins - Gambia    5) Rosemary Lodge - Nigeria 



Bee-eater,_Rosy Merops malimbicus  Found: Africa
The Rosy Bee-eater has slate-gray upperparts; dark-gray crown, forehead; black mask; white chin and throat with rosy patch; pink underparts
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana


Bee-eater,_Somali Merops revoilii  Found: Ethiopia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tanzania
The Somali Bee-eater has green upperparts; blue lower back, rump; bluish-green tail; glossy green crown; blue supercilium; white chin, throat; cinnamon-buff underparts.
Image by: 1) Steve_Garvie - Kenya  2, 3) Nik_Borrow - Kenya, Ethiopia  4) Francesco Veronesi


Bee-eater,_Southern_Carmine   Merops nubicoides Found: Africa
The Southern Carmine Bee-eater has mainly pinkish-red plumage; turquoise crown;  wide black eye-line; blue rump.
Image by:  1) Lip_Kee - Botswana  2) Arno    3) Bernard_Dupont - South Africa  4) Tarique_Sani - Botswana   5) Martin_Heigan 
1) Adult Ileft) and juvenile



Bee-eater,_Swallow-tailed Merops hirundineus   Found: Africa (central)
The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater has blue forked tail; blue cheek, collar; blue-green underparts; black eye-stripe, bill.
Similar to: Blue-cheeked Bee-eater.  Swallow-tailed Bee-eater has a forked tail; Blue-cheeked Bee-eater does not. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater has blue above and below the eye-line; Swallow-tailed has blue only below the eye-line.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  1) Nik Borrows - Malawi
  2) Frank Vassen - Namibia  3) Derek_Keats - South Africa  4) Charles_J_Sharp - South Africa


Bee-eater,_White-fronted Merops bullockoides   Found: Africa
The White-fronted Bee-eater has olive upperparts; white forehead, chin; red throat
Similar to: White-throated Bee-eater. White-fronted Bee-eater has red throat; White-throated Bee-eater has white throat.
Image by:  1) Luc Viatour  2) Dick Daniels - Kenya  3) Dick South Africa   4)  Steve Garvie - Kenya  5) Ian_White - Botswana  



Bee-eater,_White-throated Merops albicollis   Found: Africa
The White-throated Bee-eater has pale green upperparts; black-and-white striped head; white throat; black upper breast band; red eye; black bill. Male has longer tail feathers than female.
Similar to: White-fronted Bee-eater. White-fronted Bee-eater has red throat; White-throated Bee-eater has white throat.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya  2) Dave_Curtis - Kenya   3) Craftology - Zoo, New York  4) Dick Daniels - Bronx Zoo
   5) Dick - Kenya  6) Charles_J_Sharp - Uganda  7) Diana_Robinson - Kenya 




Genus Nyctyornis
These are large bee-eaters,predominantly green, with a face color as indicated by the species' name. This colorr extends to the slightly hanging throat feathers to form the "beard".

Bee-eater,_Blue-bearded Nyctyornis athertoni  Found: Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia
The Blue-bearded Bee-eater has green upperparts; elongated blue throat feathers; yellowish to olive underparts with streaks of blue or green; square ended tail.
Image by: 1) Netzach  2) JJ_Harrison - Thailand  3) Jason_Thompson - Thailand  4) Vijay_Ismavel - India  5) Chesano - Bangalore 



Bee-eater,_Red-bearded Nyctyornis amictus  Found: southeast Asia
The Red-bearded Bee-eater has mainly green plumage; red coloration to face extending to hanging throat feathers that form the "beard".
Image by: 1) Jason_Thompson - Thailand  2) JJ_Harrison - Thailand
1) Female






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