Merops superciliosus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The olive bee-eater or Madagascar bee-eater (Merops superciliosus) is a bee-eater species in the genus Merops. It is native to the southern half of Africa where it is present in Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Kenya; Madagascar; Malawi; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe. It is a common species with a wide range so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated their conservation status as "least concern".
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the olive bee-eater in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected on the island of Madagascar. He used the French name Le guespier de Madagascar and the Latin Apiaster Madagascariensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the olive... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 3 | Selous Game Reserve | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Berenty Reserve | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 6 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 9 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 11 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 12 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 13 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 15 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 16 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 17 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 18 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 19 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 20 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Bee-eater sighting in Ankarafantsika National Park on a given day, based on 365 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 83 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Bee-eater in Ankarafantsika National Park on a given day, against about 50% in April, the lowest month. That is one of Ankarafantsika National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 560 mm in January. January–March and May have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Madagascar Bee-eater sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Madagascar Bee-eater sightings, Ankarafantsika National Park has the highest daily chance: about 70%. Next come Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, about 50%) and Selous Game Reserve (Tanzania, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Coraciiformes
The closest relatives of the Madagascar Bee-eater that you can see in Ankarafantsika National Park (order Coraciiformes, Rollers, Kingfishers, and Allies) are Broad-billed Roller (about 70%), Malagasy Kingfisher (about 50%) and Madagascar Pygmy-Kingfisher (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Madagascar Bee-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Ankarafantsika National Park (365 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
