Carmine Bee-eaters are carmine in color, except for its greenish blue head and throat, and the bold black mask-like stripe across their eyes. Their eyes are red and they have a black pointed decurved beak. Their central tail feathers are elongated. Their legs and feet are blackish brown. The sexes are similar in appearance. It is one of the largest species of Merops at 35cm (13.5 in.) long. Young birds lack the elongated central tail feathers and are pinkish brown on the mantle, chest to belly, and flanks.

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:

Carmine Bee-eaters inhabit a belt of country from Senegal in the west to Abyssinia and Somalia in the east. During non-breeding seasons they migrate south to Kenya, Zaire, and Tanzania. The Bee-eater family is believed to have arisen in Southeast Asia rain forests and spread to Africa. Ancestral populations differentiated as a result of having been isolated in rain forest between northern and southern tropical savanna. Carmine Bee-eaters (M. nubicus) and Southern Carmine Bee-eaters (M. nubicoides) are believed to have diverged from a common ancestor only about 13,000 years ago. The Southern Carmine Bee-eater differs from the Carmine Bee-eater in appearance having a carmine throat not greenish blue. The Southern Carmine Bee-eater inhabits Angola and northern South-West Africa to Malawi, Mozambique, Transvaal and Natal. In non-breeding season it migrates to the Congo and western Tanzania. Its nesting and feeding habits are similar to that of the Carmine Bee-eater.

BEHAVIOR:

Bee-eaters hunt mainly by keeping watch for flying insects from a perch. The insect is snapped up in the bill, then the bird returns to the perch, where it beats the prey against the perch until it is inactive. A stinging insect is held near the tip of its tail and rubbed on the perch to be relieved of the venom and sting before being swallowed whole. Besides branches, Carmine Bee-eaters use the backs of game or cattle and even large birds, such as Jacksons Bustard or Storks as animate perches, waiting to catch any insects that they disturb. Carmine Bee-eaters also fly freely to bush fires to prey upon fleeing insects.

DIET:

Bee-eaters are insectivorous, eating mainly flying insects. Besides bees, Carmine Bee-eaters feed on grasshoppers and locust. They nest in large colonies in cliffs, usually near river banks, where they dig long horizontal tunnels often eight feet or more long with their bills. Three to five eggs are laid per clutch. The eggs are white and glossy and about 25x21 mm. In a large colony there is the possibility of indiscriminate laying of eggs in any of several adjacent holes. Both parents take part in excavating the nest, incubating the eggs and caring for the young. No bee-eater species is greatly threatened. There is a possibility that some species may be depleted if commercial bee-keeping developed in Africa, as they may be seen as pests to the apiaries. Bee-eaters are known to eat hornets, beewolves and other honey-bee eating insects, so, in the long run, it would most likely benefit bee-keepers not to disturb the birds.

Wild Population: Unknown.

Harrison, CJ O., ed., 1978, Bird Families of the World, p 150-151, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Mackworth-Praed, C. W., and Captain C. H. B. Grant, 1970, African Handbook of Birds, series III, volume I, Birds of West Central and Western Africa, p 438-439, Longman Group Ltd.
Mackworth-Praed, C. W., and Captain C. H. B. Grant, 1980, African Handbook of Birds, series I, volume I, Birds of Eastern and Northeastern Africa, p 590-591, Longman Group Ltd.
Perrins, Dr. Christopher M., and Dr. Alex L. A. Middleton, ed., 1985, The Encyclopedia of Birds, pp. 272-274, Facts or File Publications.
Thomson, Sir Arthur Lands Borough, 1964, A New Dictionary of Birds, p 84-85, Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.
Vince, Martin, Bee Eaters: Their Care and Breeding, http://www.riverbanks.org/aig/beeeater.htm
Pregil, Leinaala, Carmine Bee-eater, 1996.

(Mahalo to Leeward Community College's Zoology 101 Class for their contribution)