Merops nubicoides
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The southern carmine bee-eater (Merops nubicoides) is a species of bee-eater found across sub-equatorial Africa. It was formerly considered conspecific with the closely related northern carmine bee-eater, with the combined species then known as carmine bee-eater.
This species, like other bee-eaters, is richly coloured and is predominantly carmine in colouration, but the crown and undertail are blue. The southern carmine bee-eater occurs from KwaZulu-Natal and Namibia to Gabon, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya. The bee-eater is a migratory species, spending the breeding season, between August and November, in Zimbabwe and Zambia, before moving as far south as South Africa for the summer months, and then migrating to Equatorial Africa from March to August.
Their diet is made up primarily of bees and other flying insects, and their major hunting strategy involves hawking flying insects from perch. Perches may include branches of vegetation or even the backs of large animals, such as the kori bustard. They are attracted to wildfires because of the flushed insects, and are often seen circling high in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 3 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 4 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 5 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 6 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 7 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 8 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 9 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 11 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 12 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Carmine Bee-eater sighting in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 311th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Carmine Bee-eater in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February to December, the lowest months. That is one of Murchison Falls National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 190 mm in October.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Carmine 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.
12th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Southern Carmine Bee-eater sightings, Murchison Falls National Park ranks 12th at under 5%. The best odds are in Mana Pools National Park (Zimbabwe, about 40%), Lower Zambezi National Park (Zambia, about 30%) and South Luangwa National Park (Zambia, about 30%).
Same genus: Merops
The closest relatives of the Southern Carmine Bee-eater that you can see in Murchison Falls National Park (genus Merops, Typical Bee-eaters) are Red-throated Bee-eater (about 60%), Northern Carmine Bee-eater (about 40%) and Swallow-tailed Bee-eater (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Carmine Bee-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (22 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.
