Bee-eaters (Meropidae)
Blue-headed Bee-eater (Merops muelleri) - HBW 6, p. 326
French: Guêpier à tête bleue
German: Saphirspint
Spanish: Abejaruco Cabeciazul
Taxonomy: Meropiscus Mülleri Cassin, 1857, Muni River, Gabon.
Formerly sometimes joined with M. gularis in genus Meropiscus. Has been placed with other small, round-winged species lacking tail-streamers in genus Mellitophagus, comprising present species and M. gularis, M. pusillus, M. variegatus, M. oreobates, M. bulocki and M. bullockoides. Races intergrade between R Cross, Nigeria, and Douala, Cameroon; Kenyan population has been described as race yalensis, but now considered indistinguishable from nominate. Two subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- mentalis Cabanis, 1889 - Sierra Leone and SW Mali to W Cameroon, and Bioko (Fernando Póo).
- muelleri (Cassin, 1857) - S Cameroon and N Gabon to E Zaire, also W Kenya.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A dorsal view of a perched male Locality Rondo Retreat, Kemeri, Kenya (ssp muelleri)
Marc de Bont 3 January 2007 5 years ago 32 sec 4.5 -
A male perched and flying to hunt a prey Locality Rondo Retreat, Kemeri, Kenya (ssp muelleri)
Marc de Bont 3 January 2007 5 years ago 29 sec 4.3 -
A male perched high and preening Locality Rondo Retreat, Kemeri, Kenya (ssp muelleri)
Marc de Bont 3 January 2007 5 years ago 18 sec 3.6
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Adult perched
Locality Atewa Range, Ghana (ssp mentalis)
Nik Borrow 19 February 2013 9 weeks ago 4 -
Adult perched.
Locality Atewa Range, Ghana (ssp mentalis)
Nik Borrow 17 April 2012 51 weeks ago 4 -
The West African subspecies of Blue-headed Bee-eater mentalis is sometimes considered a separate species, Blue-moustached Bee-ea
Locality Atewa Range, Ghana (ssp mentalis)
Adam Riley 1 December 2011 1 year ago 3.7 -
Adult high up in the tree, returning several times after catching insects
Locality Atewa Range, Ghana (ssp mentalis)
Photo-ay 30 December 2009 3 years ago 2.7 -
free time
Locality Thol Bird Sanctuary, Mehsana District, Gujarat, India
Jeel Bharat Patel 4 weeks ago 1.8
- No sound recordings available yet
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