Merops albicollis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The white-throated bee-eater (Merops albicollis) is a species of bee-eater that breeds in semi-desert along the southern edge of the Sahara. The white-throated bee-eater is migratory, wintering in a completely different habitat in the equatorial rain forests of Africa from southern Senegal to Uganda.
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green, but its face and throat are white with a black crown, eye stripe, and neckband. The underparts are pale green shading to blue on the breast. The eye is red and the beak is black.
The white-throated bee-eater can reach a length of 19–21 cm, excluding the two very elongated central tail feathers, which can exceed an additional length of 12 cm. They weigh between 20 and 28 grams. Sexes are alike, except that the male has longer tail feathers. The call is similar to European bee-eater.
White-throated bee-eaters also feed and roost communally. As the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. However, this species probably takes mainly flying ants and beetles... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 4 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 7 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 9 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 12 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 13 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 14 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 15 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 16 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Whitethroated Bee-eater sighting in Awash National Park on a given day, based on 43 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 68th most-seen of the 217 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Whitethroated Bee-eater in Awash National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month. That is one of Awash National Park's wettest months, with about 70 mm of rain against 10 mm in January. February–March, May and September have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Whitethroated Bee-eater sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Whitethroated Bee-eater sightings, Awash National Park ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Meru National Park (Kenya, about 60%) and Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Merops
The closest relatives of the Whitethroated Bee-eater that you can see in Awash National Park (genus Merops, Typical Bee-eaters) are Northern Carmine Bee-eater (about 60%), Little Bee-eater (about 40%) and Madagascar Bee-eater (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Whitethroated Bee-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Awash National Park (43 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.
