Merops hirundineus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus) is a species of bee-eater native to sub-Saharan Africa. It feeds predominantly on insects, especially bees and their relatives, which are caught in flight from an open perch. Its vivid colors and forked tail are distinctive.
Like other bee-eaters, this is a richly coloured, slender bird. Its colours and readily visible forked tail make it unmistakable. It is mainly green with a yellow throat, blue gorget and black eye stripe and beak. Swallow-tailed bee-eaters can reach a length of 20–22 cm, including the long forked green or blue feathers. Sexes are alike.
It breeds in savannah woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. It is partially migratory, moving in response to rainfall patterns. This is a species which prefers somewhat more wooded country than most bee-eaters. This attractive bird is readily approached. Just 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. The swallowtail has a preference for honeybees.
These bee-eaters nest as pairs or in very small colonies in sandy... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 4 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 5 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 6 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 7 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 9 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 10 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 11 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 12 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 13 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 14 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 15 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 16 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 17 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 18 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 2 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Swallow-tailed Bee-eater sighting in Lower Zambezi National Park on a given day, based on 32 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 140th most-seen of the 241 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Swallow-tailed Bee-eater in Lower Zambezi National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month. That is one of Lower Zambezi National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 290 mm in January. February and March have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Swallow-tailed 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.
11th of 18
Of the 18 parks where we can rate Swallow-tailed Bee-eater sightings, Lower Zambezi National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa, about 30%), Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Waterberg Plateau Park (Namibia, about 30%).
Same genus: Merops
The closest relatives of the Swallow-tailed Bee-eater that you can see in Lower Zambezi National Park (genus Merops, Typical Bee-eaters) are White-fronted Bee-eater (about 70%), Little Bee-eater (about 60%) and Southern Carmine Bee-eater (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Lower Zambezi National Park (32 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.
