Blue-moustached bee-eater

Blue-moutached bee-eater
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Meropidae
Genus: Merops
Species:
M. mentalis
Binomial name
Merops mentalis
Cabanis, 1889

The blue-moustached bee-eater (Merops mentalis) is a species of bird in the family Meropidae. It is native to the Upper Guinean forests, the Western High Plateau and Bioko.

It is found in submontane and upland habitats[2] in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

The blue-moustached 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.

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Merops mentalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22736513A95136294. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22736513A95136294.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Sáfián, Szabolcs; Pyrcz, D Tomasz W. (2022-03-16). "Further data on the butterfly fauna (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mpanga Forest, Uganda, and the role of this forest in biodiversity conservation". Metamorphosis. 31 (1): 7–14. doi:10.4314/met.v31i1.3. ISSN 2307-5031.