Bee-eaters (Meropidae)

Black-headed Bee-eater (Merops breweri) - HBW 6, p. 326

French: Guêpier à tête noire German: Schwarzkopfspint Spanish: Abejaruco Cabecinegro

Taxonomy: Meropogon Breweri Cassin, 1859, Ogobai River, Gabon.
Has been placed in monotypic genus Bombylonax on account of its robust bill and some similarities to Meropogon forsteni; its biology, however, is now better known, and it appears to be a typical Merops. Monotypic.

Distribution: SE Nigeria (Igalaland Plateau); N Central African Republic (near Ndélé); Gabon, Cabinda (N Angola), Congo and E Zaire (Kinshasa to Bandundu on R Kasai, N to Bangui and E to Bambili on R Uele, E to Banalia on R Aruwimi); and NE Zaire (near Etiga) and SW Sudan (Bangangai Forest). Formerly also SC Ghana; recently recorded in Ivory Coast.