Introduction

Meropidae (bee-eaters) comprise about 24–26 species in three (to nine) genera; one species occurs in Australia. No fossil members have yet been recorded in Australia. The family is centred in the Palaeotropics, from Africa through southern Eurasia to the Greater Sundas.

The Australian species is communal, feeding gregariously mainly on bees, wasps and flies captured in convoluted aerial hawking or sallies from exposed arboreal perches. Nests are excavated in earth banks and cliffs, in long, bent burrows with unlined egg-chamber; eggs are plain-white and spherical; and young are altricial, nidicolous, and become spiny due to retention of horny sheaths on their developing feathers; nidificational duties are shared by both sexes often assisted by helpers.

Family-group Systematics

Circumscription of the family has been settled since the revisions of Dresser (1884–1886) and Sharpe (1892), see Stresemann (1927–1934), Maurer & Raikow (1981), Burton (1984) and Sibley & Ahlquist (1990).

Genus-group Systematics

Merops Linnaeus, 1758—Although Wolters (1975–1982) may have split Meropidae excessively at generic level, many of his groups have relevance as subgenera, cf. Fry (1969, 1984). One of the most clear-cut is the nominotypical subgenus Merops Linnaeus, 1758, to which Australasian M. ornatus Latham, 1802 belongs. This group comprises about seven, Asian-centred, savannah-inhabiting species characterised by green-blue plumage, prolonged central rectrices, and secondaries banded with black at the very tip.

Species-group Systematics

Merops ornatus Latham, 1802—Specific circumscription has been established from Sharpe (1892), see Fry (1984). By convention, this species is assumed to be monotypic (Peters 1945; Condon 1975), but there has been no comprehensive analysis of geographical variation in support.

Diagnosis

Slender, smallish, bright green-, blue-, or red-plumaged birds with patterned faces, attenuated tails, and black, down-tapered bills; body feathering slightly glossed, in defined tracts; small aftershafts; uropygial gland naked. Feet weak, anisodactylous; short tarsi scutellate, and all three forward toes extensively syndactylous, to terminal joint on outer two. Sexes alike. Wings rounded (sedentary, rainforest species) to commonly pointed (migratory or open country species): 10 primaries (plus or minus a vestigial 11th) moulting descendently, and 12–13 eutaxic secondaries; tail with central or lateral rectrices commonly prolonged: 12 rectrices moulting from outermost inwards and innermost outwards. Nares holorhinal, pervious, nasal septum perforate; desmognathous palate, with narrow vomer, long, flange-winged passerine-like palatines, and reduced lachrymals connected to reduced ectethmoids by cartilage; basipterygoid processes absent; cervical vertebrae 14(–15); sternum deeply 2-notched on each side, both spina externa and interna present and fused terminally in a spina communis, furcula without hypocleideum. Musculus expansor secundariorum present and 'ciconine', biceps slip absent; pelvic muscle formula AXY, no M. ambiens; deep plantar tendons Type V but completely fused only below a slip to hallux. Carotid arteries commonly reduced to the left (but paired in Nyctyornis). Syrinx tracheo-bronchial. Slender tongue sparsely fringed at base; no crop; caeca long. Diploid karyotype of 82 chromosomes, without obvious macrochromosomes.

General References

Boetticher, H. von 1951. La systématique des guêpiers. Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie 21: 194-199

Burton, P.J.K. 1984. Anatomy and evolution of the feeding apparatus in the avian orders Coraciiformes and Piciformes. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 47: 331-443

Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp.

Dresser, H.E. 1886. A Monograph of the Meropidae, or family of the Bee-eaters. London : H.E. Dresser xx 144 pp. 34 pls. [published between 1884–1886]

Dyer, M. & Fry, C.H. 1978. The origin and role of helpers in bee-eaters. pp. 862-868 in Nöhring, R. (ed.). Acta XVII Congressus Internationalis Ornithologici. Berlin : Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft.

Fry, C.H. 1969. The evolution and systematics of bee-eaters (Meropidae). Ibis 111: 557-592

Fry, C.H. 1972. The biology of African bee-eaters. Living Bird 11: 75-112

Fry, C.H. 1984. The Bee-Eaters. Calton : T. & A.D. Poyser 304 pp., 8 pls.

Hanmer, D.B. 1980. Mensural and moult data on six species of bee-eater in Mozámbique and Malawi. Ostrich 51: 25-38

Koenig, L. 1951. Beiträge zu einem Aktionssystem des Bienenfressers (Merops apiaster L.). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 8: 169-210

Maurer, D.R. & Raikow, R.J. 1981. Appendicular myology, phylogeny, and classification of the avian order Coraciiformes (including Trogoniformes). Annals of the Carnegie Museum 50: 417-434

Peters, J.L. 1945. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 5 xi 306 pp.

Sharpe, R.B. 1892. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae. Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones. London : British Museum Vol. 17 xi 522 pp. XVII pls.

Sibley, C.G. & Ahlquist, J.E. 1990. Phylogeny and Classification of Birds. A Study in Molecular Evolution. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiii 976 pp.

Streseman, E. 1927. Sauropsida: Aves. pp. in Kükenthal, W. & Krumbach, Th. (eds). Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tiereiches. Berlin : W. de Gruyter Bd 7, Hft 2 xi 899 pp. [Date published 1927–1934]

Wolters, H.E. 1975–1982. Die Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen. Hamburg : Paul Parey xx 745 pp.

History of changes

Taxonomic Decision for Subgeneric Arrangement

• Schodde, R. in Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1997. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In, Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 37.2 xiii 440 pp. [379] (based on generic concept of Fry, C.H. 1969. The evolution and systematics of bee-eaters (Meropidae). Ibis 111: 557–592 and, for subgenus, on the generic concept of Merops Linnaeus, 1758 in Wolters, H.E. 1976. Die Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen. Hamburg : Paul Parey Lief. 2, 81–160 pp.)

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal
  • South Australia: S Gulfs
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
• Indonesia
  • Irian Jaya
  • Sulawesi (Celebes)
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
  • Bismarck Archipelago

General References

Boetticher, H. von 1951. La systématique des guêpiers. Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie 21: 194-199 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Cramp, S. (ed.) 1985. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palaearctic. Oxford : Oxford University Press Vol. 4 960 pp. 98 pls. (subgeneric arrangement and generic limits)

Fry, C.H. 1984. The Bee-Eaters. Calton : T. & A.D. Poyser 304 pp., 8 pls. (subgeneric arrangement and generic limits)

Mathews, G.M. 1913. A List of the Birds of Australia containing the names and synonyms connected with each genus, species, and subspecies of birds found in Australia, at present known to the author. London : Witherby xxvii 453 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement also subsequent revisions)

Peters, J.L. 1945. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 5 xi 306 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Sharpe, R.B. 1892. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae. Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones. London : British Museum Vol. 17 xi 522 pp. XVII pls. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Sibley, C.G. & Monroe, B.L., Jr 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiv 1111 pp. (subgeneric arrangement and generic limits)

History of changes

• Merops Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10 Edn., 824 pp. [117] [based on Merops, pre-binominal specific name in synonymy; validated as correct name with above authorship, place of publication, and type species by International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature Direction 4, gender masculine].

  Type species:

   Merops apiaster Linnaeus, 1758 by Linnaean tautonymy.
• Cosmaerops Cabanis, J. & Heine, F. 1860. Museum Heineanum. Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt. Halberstadt : R. Frantz Part 2 175 pp. [publication dated 1859-1860 Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.] [138] [as Cosmaërops; published without description but based by reference on Merops ornatus Latham, 1802 and available under ICZN Art. 12(b)(5)].

  Type species:

   Merops ornatus Latham, 1801 by monotypy.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Schodde, R. in Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1997. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In, Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 37.2 xiii 440 pp. [379]

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

South Palaearctic and palaeotropics, from south Europe and Africa to the Indonesian archipelagos and Papuasia.

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal
  • South Australia: S Gulfs
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
• Indonesia
  • Irian Jaya
  • Sulawesi (Celebes)
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
  • Bismarck Archipelago

Distribution References

History of changes

• Merops ornatus Latham, J. 1801. Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae. London : G. Leigh, J. & S. Sotheby 74 pp. [35] [based on the Variegated Bee-eater in Latham, J. 1802. Supplement II. to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh, Sotheby & Son 376 pp. pls CXX–CXL [publication dated as 1801] (155), where syntype figured on pl. CXXVIII; this figure is copied from Thomas Watling drawing no. 84 in BMNH according to Gray, G.R. 1843. Some rectification of the nomenclature of Australian birds. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1 11: 189–194, cf. Sharpe, R.B. 1906. Birds. pp. 79–515 in, The History of the Collections contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 2. (124)—but it matches the 'male' described by Latham, J. 1802. Supplement II. to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh, Sotheby & Son 376 pp. pls CXX–CXL [publication dated as 1801] from the collection of General T. Davies instead; for references to type material, see Sharpe, R.B. 1906. Birds. pp. 79–515 in, The History of the Collections contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 2.; Von Pelzeln, A. 1873. On the birds in the Imperial Collection at Vienna obtained from the Leverian Museum. Part II. Ibis 3 3: 105–124; for additional information, see Mathews, G.M. 1918. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 2 pp. 113–216 pls 337–342 [15 May 1918, volume dated as 1918–1919] (209–210); Mathews, G.M. & Iredale, T. 1920. Forgotten bird-artists and an old-time ornithologist. Austral Avian Records 4: 114–122].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (ex General T. Davies coll. inter alia, possibly NHMW, ex Leverian Museum no. 212, or lost, figured on Thomas Watling drawing no. 84 in BMNH and ?in Lambert drawings in BMNH), New South Wales (as Nova Hollandia).

  Type locality references:

  Latham, J. 1801. Supplement II. to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh, Sotheby & Son 376 pp. 120-140 pls. [publication dated as 1801 - see Schodde et al. (2010)] [155-156] (cf. Hindwood, K.A. 1970. The "Watling" drawings, with incidental notes on the "Lambert" and the "Latham" drawings. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1968–69: 16–32 pls IV–VII).
• Merops tenuipennis Dumont, C.H.F. 1821. In, Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, dans lequel on traite méthodiquement des différens êtres de la nature, considérés soit en eux-mêmes, d'après l'état actuel de nos connaissances, soit relativement à l'utilité qu'en peuvent retirer la médecine, l'agriculture, le commerce et les arts. Suivi d'une biographie des plus célèbres naturalistes. Par Plusieurs Professeurs du Jardin du Roi, et des principales Écoles de Paris. Paris : F.G. Levrault. 20 pp. [52] [alternative name for Merops thouini Dumont, 1821, q.v.; based on le Guêpier à longs brins ou Thouin in Levaillant, F. 1807. Histoire naturelle des Promerops et des Guêpiers. Paris : Parlet/Denné le jeune Pt 1 p. 26 pl. 4 pp. [Fletcher, J.J. 1896. On the dates of publication of the early volumes of the Society's proceedings. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 10: 533–536]].

  Type data:

   Holotype MNHP (not traced, perhaps destroyed, figured on pl.4 in Levaillant, F. 1807. Histoire naturelle des Promerops et des Guêpiers. Paris : Parlet/Denné le jeune Pt 1 p. 26 pl. 4 pp. [Fletcher, J.J. 1896. On the dates of publication of the early volumes of the Society's proceedings. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 10: 533–536]), New South Wales (as Terres Australes).

  Type locality references:

  Mathews, G.M. 1913. A List of the Birds of Australia containing the names and synonyms connected with each genus, species, and subspecies of birds found in Australia, at present known to the author. London : Witherby xxvii 453 pp.
• Merops thouini Dumont, C.H.F. 1821. In, Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, dans lequel on traite méthodiquement des différens êtres de la nature, considérés soit en eux-mêmes, d'après l'état actuel de nos connaissances, soit relativement à l'utilité qu'en peuvent retirer la médecine, l'agriculture, le commerce et les arts. Suivi d'une biographie des plus célèbres naturalistes. Par Plusieurs Professeurs du Jardin du Roi, et des principales Écoles de Paris. Paris : F.G. Levrault. 20 pp. [52] [objective synonym of Merops tenuipennis Dumont, 1821, q.v.; based on le Guêpier à longs brins ou Thouin in Levaillant, F. 1807. Histoire naturelle des Promerops et des Guêpiers. Paris : Parlet/Denné le jeune Pt 1 p. 26 pl. 4 pp. [Fletcher, J.J. 1896. On the dates of publication of the early volumes of the Society's proceedings. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 10: 533–536]; also as incorrect subsequent spelling, thouinii by Sharpe, R.B. 1892. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae. Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones. London : British Museum Vol. 17 xi 522 pp. XVII pls].

  Type data:

   Holotype MNHP (holotype that of Merops tenuipennis Dumont, 1821), New South Wales (as Terres Australes).

  Type locality references:

  Mathews, G.M. 1913. A List of the Birds of Australia containing the names and synonyms connected with each genus, species, and subspecies of birds found in Australia, at present known to the author. London : Witherby xxvii 453 pp.
• Merops melanurus Vigors, N.A. & Horsfield, T. 1827. A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 15: 170-331 [Date published 17 Feb 1827: publication dated 1826] [208] [although BMNH 1863.7.7.16 identified as holotype by Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp., the original description makes it clear that several specimens were before Vigors and Horsfield when they described melanurus, without any being designated as 'type'; only one of the specimens, effectively lectotypified under ICZN Art. 74(a), appears to have been retained by BMNH—the remainder are not traced].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH 1863.7.7.16 unsexed adult (=♀), Hawkesbury-Nepean valley, NSW, probably 'conflux of the Grose with the Hawkesbury River' (as New South Wales).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Sharpe, R.B. 1892. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae. Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones. London : British Museum Vol. 17 xi 522 pp. XVII pls. [76].
• Merops lewini Bonaparte, C.L. 1850. Conspectus Generum Avium. Tom. I. Lugduni, Batavorum : E.J. Brill 543 pp. [Date published 24 Jun 1850] [162] [nom. nov. for Merops ornatus Latham, 1802, in synonymy as 'lewini Aliq.'—unavailable under ICZN Art. 11(d)(e)].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s).
• Merops ornatus shortridgei Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [290].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 642092 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 1333), Strelley River, Pilbara, WA [as Westralia (Strelly River)]
  Comment: for identification of holotype and type locality, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. [236]

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

All mainland Australia and offshore islands—except TAS, extreme south-west and south-east coasts, the central western deserts between the east Great Sandy Desert and Nullarbor Plain, and the more densely forested coastal scarps of the Great Dividing Range.

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal
  • South Australia: S Gulfs
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
• Indonesia
  • Irian Jaya
  • Sulawesi (Celebes)
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
  • Bismarck Archipelago

Ecological Descriptors

Aerial, arboreal, arthropod-feeder, diurnal, gregarious, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low shrubland, low woodland, migratory, nomadic, open forest, open scrub, tall open shrubland, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, takes venomous Hymenoptera in circling evolutions on wing, perches on bare exposed branches, nests in burrows in banks, breeding summer migrant over much of Australia, less commonly in extreme north, with outlying breeding colonies in SE New Guinea and perhaps south-west islands in Banda Sea, passage migrant on Torres Strait islands, winters from N Australia (mainly N of c. 20ºS) north to New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomons (rarely), Moluccas, Lesser Sundas and Sulawesi, occasionally overshooting to Micronesia, Philippines and Bali(?).

General References

Calver, M.C., Saunders, D.A. & Porter, B.D. 1987. The diet of nesting Rainbow Bee-eaters, Merops ornatus, on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, and observations on a non-destructive method of diet analysis. Australian Wildlife Research 14: 541-550 (behaviour, diet)

Carruthers, R.K. 1975. Banding and observations of Rainbow Bee-eaters. Australian Bird Bander 13: 71-74 (movements)

Courtney, J. 1971. Breeding of the Rainbowbird at Swan Vale, NSW. The Emu 71: 172-173 (nidification)

Filewood, L.W.C., Hough, K., Morris, I.C. & Peter, D.E. 1978. Helpers at the nest of the Rainbow Bee-eater. The Emu 78: 43-44 [Sherborn, C.D. & Woodward, B.B. 1901. Dates of publication of the zoological and botanical portions of some French voyages - Part II. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 8: 333–336, 491–494] (nidification)

Fraser, T. 1982. Breeding of the Rainbow Bee-eater on Kangaroo Island. South Australian Ornithologist 28: 218 [Sherborn, C.D. & Woodward, B.B. 1901. Notes on the dates of publication of the natural history portions of some French voyages - Part 1. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 7: 388–392] (breeding, occurrence)

Garnett, S. 1986. Mortality and group cohesion in migrating Rainbow Bee-eaters. The Emu 85: 267-268 (behaviour)

Klapste, J. 1980. Rainbow Bee-eater: playful behaviour and other observations. Australian Bird Watcher 8: 252-253 [Chisholm, A.H. 1929. Australia's Lorilet Puzzle. Emu 29: 81–85 [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.] Whitley, G.P. 1938. New species in newspapers. Emu 38: 63–64] (behaviour)

Kloot, T. & Aston, H.I. 1983. Night roosting of the Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus. Australian Bird Watcher 10: 104-105 [Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1833–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84] (behaviour)

Lea, A.M. & Gray, J.T. 1935. The food of Australian birds. An analysis of the stomach contents. Part II. The Emu 35: 63-98 (diet)

Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Mees, G.F. 1982. Birds from the lowlands of southern New Guinea (Merauke and Koembe). Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) 191: 1-188 4 pls (distribution, movements)

Peters, J.L. 1945. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 5 xi 306 pp. (synonymy)

Sharpe, R.B. 1892. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Picariae. Coraciae (contin.) and Halcyones. London : British Museum Vol. 17 xi 522 pp. XVII pls. (synonymy and specific limits)

White, C.M.N. & Bruce, M.D. 1986. The Birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia). An annotated check-list. B.O.U. Check-list No. 7. London : British Ornithologists' Union 524 pp. (distribution, movements, breeding)

Wolters, H.E. 1976. Die Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen. Hamburg : Paul Parey pp. Lief. 2, 81-160. (synonymy)

History of changes

• Merops auritus Latham, J. 1801. Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae. London : G. Leigh, J. & S. Sotheby 74 pp. [34] [based on the Black-eared Bee-eater on p. 153 in Latham, J. 1802. Supplement II. to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh, Sotheby & Son 376 pp. pls CXX–CXL [publication dated as 1801], in turn based on Thomas Watling drawing no. 91 in BMNH (from the region of Port Jackson, NSW), which is unidentifiable, possibly passerine, see Sharpe, R.B. 1906. Birds. pp. 79–515 in, The History of the Collections contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 2. (125); Mathews, G.M. 1913. A List of the Birds of Australia containing the names and synonyms connected with each genus, species, and subspecies of birds found in Australia, at present known to the author. London : Witherby xxvii 453 pp. (Appendix B); Hindwood, K.A. 1970. The "Watling" drawings, with incidental notes on the "Lambert" and the "Latham" drawings. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1968–69: 16–32 pls IV–VII].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, (no type recorded, lost), Australia (as Nova Hollandia).

History of changes