Merops albicollis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
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 Lagos on a given day, based on 18 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 22nd most-seen of the 72 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and April
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Whitethroated Bee-eater in Lagos on a given day, against about 10% in July, October and December, the lowest months. Those are among Lagos's driest months, with about 60 mm of rain a month against 250 mm in September. June, August–September and November 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.
2nd of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Whitethroated Bee-eater sightings, Lagos ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Kampala (Uganda, about 30%).
Same order: Coraciiformes
The closest relatives of the Whitethroated Bee-eater that you can see in Lagos (order Coraciiformes, Rollers, Kingfishers, and Allies) are Woodland Kingfisher (about 30%), Pied Kingfisher (about 30%) and Blue-breasted Kingfisher (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 Lagos (18 verified sightings), 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.
