Birds
Somali bee-eater (Merops revoilii)
The Somali bee-eater (Merops revoilii) is the smallest bee-eater in its genus, a green, blue and cinnamon bird of dry acacia scrub in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. It catches small flying insects from low perches and nests in banks and well sides. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.
In short
The Somali bee-eater (Merops revoilii) is a bird of the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It is the smallest member of its genus (Fry and Fry, Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers). Oustalet described it in 1882 (GBIF Backbone Taxonomy).
What it looks like
Males and females look alike: slender, with spiky feathers on the head. The crown is shiny green and the eyebrow blue. The upper body is green, the lower back and rump bright blue and the tail bluish-green. The cheeks, chin and throat are white and the breast and belly cinnamon-buff. The bill is black, the eyes reddish-brown and the legs dark grey. Unlike many bee-eaters, it has no dark trailing edge to the wings (Fry and Fry).
Where it lives
Its range runs from southern Ethiopia through Somalia to northern and eastern Kenya. It lives in open acacia and commiphora scrub, dry grassland with scattered bushes, and steppe (Wikipedia, Somali bee-eater, backup).
How it lives
It catches small flying insects in short dashes from a low perch. It is seen alone or in pairs. It nests in the banks of road cuttings and in the sides of deep wells. In Kenya it breeds from March to June (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Somali Bee-eater).
The IUCN suggests that clearing of woodland and forest may be creating new open habitat for it, so its numbers may be rising (IUCN Red List, Merops revoilii, 2016).
Records in Somali lands
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 129 records of the Somali bee-eater from Somalia, dated from 1894 to 2026 (GBIF occurrence search, Somalia). By type: 95 sightings by people, 33 museum specimens, 1 other record.
Records that name a region (101 of 129), by region: Woqooyi Galbeed 62, Togdheer 19, Sanaag 7, Hiiraan 2, Nugaal 2, Sool 2, Awdal 1, Banadir (Mogadishu) 1, Galgaduud 1, Middle Juba 1, Mudug 1, Middle Shabelle 1, Lower Shabelle 1 (same source).
The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1894, from a place recorded as "The Hand, S.E. of Berbera", held by the American Museum of Natural History (GBIF record 858968342).
The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2026, from Woqooyi Galbeed, held by iNaturalist (GBIF record 6163414299).
GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.
Red List status
The IUCN Red List category for the Somali bee-eater is Least Concern (IUCN Red List assessment; GBIF species page).
Classification
| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Coraciiformes |
| Family | Meropidae |
| Genus | Merops |
| Species | Merops revoilii |
Scientific name with author: Merops revoilii Oustalet, 1882 (GBIF Backbone Taxonomy).
Related pages
Sources
Sources
- Fry and Fry, Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers · books.google.com
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · gbif.org
- Wikipedia, Somali bee-eater, backup · en.wikipedia.org
- Handbook of the Birds of the World, Somali Bee-eater · hbw.com
- IUCN Red List, Merops revoilii, 2016 · doi.org
- GBIF occurrence search, Somalia · gbif.org
- GBIF record 858968342 · gbif.org
- GBIF record 6163414299 · inaturalist.org
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- Juba weaver (Ploceus dichrocephalus)The Juba weaver or Salvadori's weaver: name, range in the Horn of Africa, Red List status, and its 27 shared records in Somalia from 1901 to 2021.
- Somali courser (Cursorius somalensis)The Somali courser: a wader of semi-desert and short grass, how to tell it from the cream-coloured courser, its two subspecies, and its records across Somali regions.
- Somali crombec (Sylvietta isabellina)The Somali crombec: a small African warbler of dry shrubland, its range, the subspecies named after the Maharaja of Baroda, and its records across Somali regions since 1896.
- Somali crow (Corvus edithae)The Somali crow or dwarf raven: size, range, nesting, voice, how it differs from the brown-necked raven, its Red List status and where it has been recorded in Somalia, region by region.
- Somali fiscal (Lanius somalicus)The Somali fiscal or Somali shrike: range, habitat, how it hunts and stores prey on thorns, nesting, Red List status and its records across Somali regions.
- Somali lark (Corypha somalica)The Somali lark, a bird found only in Somalia: its names, its move to the genus Corypha in 2023, its two subspecies including the former Ash's lark, and its records.