Somali Bee-eater

Merops revoilii

Other Names

    Guêpier de Revoil   Somalispint   Abejaruco Somalí       Gruccione di Somalia

World: Africa: Limited to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.

Kenya: Northern and eastern Kenya, west of Lake Turkana and as far south as Tsavo National Park.

This is a small Bee-eater (16-18cm) which prefers arid country and desert, where it may be locally common. It is the second smallest Bee-eater after the Little Bee-eater. It feeds on small airborne insects which it catches in short flights from its low perch. It is normally found solitary or in pairs and prefers nesting in road cuttings and in the sides of deep wells. In Kenya it breeds between March and June.