Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

<i>Merops ornatus</i>, nr Gundaroo, NSW

Merops ornatus, nr Gundaroo, NSW

Museums

Regional Maps

CAVS: 0329

Species Merops (Merops) ornatus Latham, 1801

Rainbow Bee-eater

 

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.


Note that conversion of the original AFD map of states, drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones to IBRA and IMCRA regions may have produced errors. The new maps will be reviewed and corrected as updates occur. The maps may not indicate the entire distribution. See further details below.
IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)
drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones (map not available)

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

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
06-Oct-2015 MODIFIED