Little bee eater

Introduction: Little bee-eaters (Merops pusillus) inhabit lake shores, riverbanks, farmland, grassy clearings in forests, vegetated sand dunes as well as bushy, open country and dry and moist savannah regions. They are usually found in pairs or small family groups, perched on grass, twig or at times sitting upright in a tree with the tail wagging up and down. At night they roost in thickets over or near to water, around 10 birds snuggled together at a time on a branch.

Distribution: Northern Namibian regions such Epupa Falls, Oshakati /Ondangwa and rivers from Rundu extending east to the Caprivi to Victoria Falls extending south the Okavango Delta and the Moremi Game Reserve.

Diet: Mostly flying insects, bees, digger wasps, spider-hunting wasps and flies. They also eat crickets, bugs, butterflies, termites and cockroaches.

Description: Pusillus is the Latin word for very small. They are often confused with the swallow-tailed bee-eater which has blue (not black) gorget (throat and neck markings) and a blue lower belly and undertail.

Breeding: Females lay between 2 and 6 eggs in a nest excavated in a burrow in high sandy banks usually along riverbanks, but also in gently sloping ground, ploughed furrows and ditches.

Size: 17cm.

Weight: 15g.