Merops is a large genus of bee-eaters, a group of birds in the family Meropidae, native to Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. The members of this family are characterised by richly coloured plumage, slender bodies and usually elongated central tail feathers. They predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air.
Taxonomy All bee-eaters are in the genus Merops and subfamily Meropinae except for three Asiatic bearded bee-eaters in the subfamily Nyctyornithinae (in genera Nyctyornis and Meropogon). The genus Merops was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species is the European bee-eater. The genus name is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater".
Taxonomy and systematics Twenty-eight species are recognized:
Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Black-headed bee-eaterMerops breweri Angola, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Sudan. Blue-headed bee-eaterMerops muelleri Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Kenya Blue-moustached bee-eaterMerops mentalis Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Black bee-eaterMerops gularis African tropical rainforest Swallow-tailed bee-eaterMerops hirundineus sub-Saharan Africa Little bee-eaterMerops pusillus Sub-Saharan Africa Blue-breasted bee-eaterMerops variegatus Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and CameroonEthiopian bee-eaterMerops lafresnayiiEritrea; Ethiopia; South Sudan; Sudan Cinnamon-chested bee-eaterMerops oreobates Albertine Rift montane forests and East African montane forests Red-throated bee-eaterMerops bulocki Sudan (region) White-fronted bee-eaterMerops bullockoides sub-equatorial Africa. Somali bee-eaterMerops revoilii Ethiopia, through Somalia to northern and eastern Kenya White-throated bee-eaterMerops albicollis southern Senegal to Uganda. Böhm's bee-eaterMerops boehmi Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia.African green bee-eaterMerops viridissimussub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and the Gambia to Ethiopia; the Nile ValleyArabian green bee-eaterMerops cyanophrysArabian Peninsula and the Levant Asian green bee-eaterMerops orientalis Asia from coastal southern Iran east through the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam Blue-cheeked bee-eaterMerops persicus Northern Africa, and the Middle East from eastern Turkey to Kazakhstan and India Olive bee-eaterMerops superciliosus Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Kenya; Madagascar; Malawi; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe Blue-tailed bee-eaterMerops philippinus southeastern Asia. Rainbow bee-eaterMerops ornatus Australia, New Guinea, and some of the southern islands of Indonesia. Blue-throated bee-eaterMerops viridis south-east Asia Rufous-crowned bee-eaterMerops americanus the Philippines Chestnut-headed bee-eaterMerops leschenaulti India east to Southeast Asia. European bee-eaterMerops apiaster southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia. Rosy bee-eaterMerops malimbicus Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. Northern carmine bee-eaterMerops nubicus Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. Southern carmine bee-eaterMerops nubicoides KwaZulu-Natal and Namibia to Gabon, the eastern DRCongo and Kenya.
Former species Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Merops: Magpie-lark (as Merops picatus)
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