Blue-headed Bee-eater

Blue-headed Bee-eater
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Meropidae
Genus:	Merops
Species:	M. muelleri
Binomial name
Merops muelleri (Cassin, 1857)

The blue-headed bee-eater (Merops muelleri) is a species of bird in the Meropidae family. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

The blue-headed bee-eater is a rainforest bird usually found singly. It perches on a high branch in the canopy beside tracks and clearings and swoops down on small butterflies, honeybees and other insects before returning to its original perch. Its occurrence in Kenya is probably as a result of the shrinking of the equatorial rain forest belt which has cut its original range into two unequal sized pieces. The western populations have also contracted over the years and the birds are now under threat throughout their range. This is mostly due to human impact through deforestation and cattle grazing.^[1]

References

1. ^ Kenya Birds

• BirdLife International 2004. Merops muelleri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 December 2010.