Merops (genus)

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.

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: Template:Cladogram

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
File:Merops breweri Keulemans.jpg	Black-headed bee-eater	Merops breweri	Angola, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Sudan.
File:Merops muelleri.jpg	Blue-headed bee-eater	Merops muelleri	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Kenya
File:Merops mentalis (cropped).jpg	Blue-moustached bee-eater	Merops mentalis	Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
File:Black Bee-eater - Ghana S4E2547.jpg	Black bee-eater	Merops gularis	African tropical rainforest
File:Swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus hirundineus).jpg	Swallow-tailed bee-eater	Merops hirundineus	sub-Saharan Africa
File:Little bee-eater (Merops pusillus pusillus).jpg	Little bee-eater	Merops pusillus	Sub-Saharan Africa
File:20160605 0253 Bangweulu Guepier a collier bleu (cropped).jpg	Blue-breasted bee-eater	Merops variegatus	Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Cameroon
File:Ethiopian Bee-eater (cropped).jpg	Ethiopian bee-eater	Merops lafresnayii	Eritrea; Ethiopia; South Sudan; Sudan
File:Cinnamon-chested bee-eater (Merops oreobates) 2.jpg	Cinnamon-chested bee-eater	Merops oreobates	Albertine Rift montane forests and East African montane forests
File:Merops bulocki frenatus.jpg	Red-throated bee-eater	Merops bulocki	Sudan (region)
File:White-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) Namibia.jpg	White-fronted bee-eater	Merops bullockoides	sub-equatorial Africa.
File:Somali Bee-eater, Merops revoilii (cropped).jpg	Somali bee-eater	Merops revoilii	Ethiopia, through Somalia to northern and eastern Kenya
File:White-throated bee-eater (Merops albicollis) female.jpg	White-throated bee-eater	Merops albicollis	southern Senegal to Uganda.
File:Boehm's Bee-eater - Malawi S4E2687 (22658131571).jpg	Böhm's bee-eater	Merops boehmi	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia.
File:Merops orientalis at Fayoum by Hatem Moushir 1.JPG	African green bee-eater	Merops viridissimus	sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and the Gambia to Ethiopia; the Nile Valley
File:Green bee-eater with a bee.jpg	Arabian green bee-eater	Merops cyanophrys	Arabian Peninsula and the Levant
File:Merops orientalis - Pak Thale.jpg	Asian green bee-eater	Merops orientalis	Asia from coastal southern Iran east through the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam
File:Blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus persicus) Namibia.jpg	Blue-cheeked bee-eater	Merops persicus	Northern Africa, and the Middle East from eastern Turkey to Kazakhstan and India
File:Olive Bee-eater, Ambola, SW Madagascar.jpg	Olive bee-eater	Merops 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
File:Blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus).jpg	Blue-tailed bee-eater	Merops philippinus	southeastern Asia.
File:Rainbow Bee-eater - Fogg Dam - Darwin S4E5258 (22308831836).jpg	Rainbow bee-eater	Merops ornatus	Australia, New Guinea, and some of the southern islands of Indonesia.
File:Blue-throated bee-eater (Merops viridis).jpg	Blue-throated bee-eater	Merops viridis	south-east Asia
File:Rufous-crowned Bee-eater Merops viridis americanus, Luzon, Philippines (15901095124).jpg	Rufous-crowned bee-eater	Merops americanus	the Philippines
File:Chestnut-headed bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti).jpg	Chestnut-headed bee-eater	Merops leschenaulti	India east to Southeast Asia.
File:Şahlûr.jpg	European bee-eater	Merops apiaster	southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia.
File:Merops malimbicus (cropped).jpg	Rosy bee-eater	Merops malimbicus	Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo.
File:Merops nubicus 13zz.jpg	Northern carmine bee-eater	Merops 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.
File:Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides) (16732824032).jpg	Southern carmine bee-eater	Merops 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)