Merops apiaster
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is a bird species in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It has the largest range of any bee-eater species. It breeds in southern and central Europe, northern and southern Africa, and western Asia. Except for the resident southern African population, the species is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa. This species occurs as a spring overshoot north of its usual range, with occasional breeding in northern Europe.
The European bee-eater was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Merops apiaster. The genus name Merops (μέροψ) is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater", and apiaster is Latin, also meaning "bee-eater", from apis, "bee".
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It has brown and yellow upper parts, whilst the wings are green and the beak is black. It can reach a length of 27–29 cm (10.6–11.4 in), including the two elongated central tail feathers, and weigh 44–78 g (52 g on average). Sexes are alike. Female tends to have greener rather than gold feathers... Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zürich Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 2 | Warsaw Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 3 | Dierenpark Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 4 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Schönbrunn Zoo | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 6 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 7 | Cleres Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Plock Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 9 | Frankfurt Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Oasi Naturalistica di Sant'Alessio | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 11 | Tiergarten Teltow | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 12 | herpetarium warszawskiego ZOO | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 13 | akwarium warszawskiego ZOO | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 14 | hipopotamiarnia i akwarium morskie warszawskiego ZOO | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 15 | Landgoed Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a European Bee-eater sighting in Lake Manyara National Park on a given day, based on 66 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 72nd most-seen of the 307 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and March
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a European Bee-eater in Lake Manyara National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to August, the lowest months.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most European 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.
18th of 61
Of the 61 parks where we can rate European Bee-eater sightings, Lake Manyara National Park ranks 18th at about 20%. The best odds are in uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 40%), Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 40%) and Monfragüe National Park (Spain, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Merops
The closest relatives of the European Bee-eater that you can see in Lake Manyara National Park (genus Merops, Typical Bee-eaters) are Little Bee-eater (about 40%) and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the European Bee-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Manyara National Park (66 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.
