Animalia Life
Merops albicollis
TAXONOMY
Merops albicollis Vieillot, 1817, Senegal. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Guкpier а gorge blanche; German: Weisskehlspint:
Spanish: Abejaruco Gorgiblanco.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
8 in (19–21 cm), excluding tail-streamers which can exceed
4.75 in (12 cm); 0.7–1 oz (20–28 g). The black crown and
mask, separated by white supercilliary, cheeks, and throat make
this species unmistakable. Hindneck is ochre; back is green;
rump and tail are bluish; breast is pale green; belly is white.
Longest tail streamers in the family.
DISTRIBUTION
Northern tropics, breeding across sub-Saharan Africa in very
dry habitats, wintering in forested areas to the south, across
the continent.
HABITAT
Occupies thorn scrub, open sandy dunes, and river washes during
breeding, but rainforest canopy, woodlands, and orchards
during the winter.
BEHAVIOR
Gregarious and vocal, this species is a conspicuous daytime migrant
between desert breeding grounds and wet forests of tropical
Africa, where it spends the non-breeding season
flycatching from the canopy. Individuals wintering near the
Zaire River must migrate nearly 1,400 mi (2,200 km) to the
nearest breeding locations.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
The diet is unusual, with a high proportion of flying ants, especially
in forested habitats. White-throated bee-eaters will
take ground prey such as lizards, tenebrionid beetles, and
grasshoppers, and also forage in continuous flight like many of
the larger bee-eaters. Most peculiar is an association with
squirrels feeding on the oil palm Elaeis guineensis. Squirrels
strip and discard the oily pericarp from the fruits, and beeeaters
snatch these nutritious pieces as they fall from high in
the palm crown.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breeds in loose colonies on flat or tiered ground surfaces from
February to October (the later months in Chad and Nigeria).
Clutch size averages six eggs. Helping
BEHAVIOR
is well developed.
In one study, 90% of nests were attended by one or
more non-breeding adults—the highest frequency of helping
known for any bee-eater species.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
Photo Gallery of - White-throated bee-eater
