Southern carmine bee eater

Introduction: Southern carmine bee-eater (Merops nubicoidus) (or carmine bee-eater) are usually confined to open, wooded and bushy savannahs, floodplains with oxbows, lake shores, swamps with scattered dead trees and dry grassy plains, as well as seasonal rivers and cultivated lands. They live in large groups, perching side by side in trees and other vegetation that overhangs tropical rivers.

Distribution: North-eastern regions of Namibia from Rundu extending through the Caprivi to Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta and some scattered populations in the Tsumkwe region.

Diet: Eats mostly flying insects, cicadas, bugs, butterflies and moths and dragonflies.

Description: Nubicoidus is the Latin word for resembles, as there is likeness to the northern carmine bee-eater.

Breeding: Between 2 and 5 eggs are laid between August to December in nests made in sandy riverbanks, ditches or areas of flat, sloping ground.

Size: 27cm. Tail streamers project a further 120mm.

Weight: 62g.