Merops bulocki
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The red-throated bee-eater (Merops bulocki) is a species of bird in the family Meropidae. This species is native to the Sudan (region). It has a wide range and large total population, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The adult red-throated bee eater grows to about 20 to 22 cm (8 to 9 in) in length with a moderately long tail, but no streamers. The upper parts are green and the red chin and throat are distinctive, though about 1% of individuals have a yellow throat. The hind neck, breast and underparts are buff, and the under-tail coverts and thighs are bright blue. To the east of the Central African Republic, the birds have blue facial features while to the west these features are green.
The red-throated bee-eater has a wide distribution across tropical Africa, its range extending from Senegal and Gambia in the west to Uganda, southern Sudan, and Ethiopia in the east. Its typical habitat is savannah with scattered trees, farmland with trees, the edges of marshes, bushy pastures and gardens, but the birds are rarely to be found far from the erosion... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Red-throated Bee-eater sighting in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 765 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Red-throated Bee-eater in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, against about 40% in March to May, the lowest months. Those are among Murchison Falls National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in October.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-throated 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 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Red-throated Bee-eater sightings, Murchison Falls National Park ranks 2nd at about 60%. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 90%).
Same genus: Merops
The closest relatives of the Red-throated Bee-eater that you can see in Murchison Falls National Park (genus Merops, Typical Bee-eaters) are Northern Carmine Bee-eater (about 40%), Swallow-tailed Bee-eater (about 30%) and Little Bee-eater (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-throated Bee-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (765 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.
