CreatureData

Blue-bearded bee-eater

Nyctyornis athertoni (Jardine & Selby, 1828)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni) is a species in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh 82.3 g to 89 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni)
Photo: Jason Thompson · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the blue-bearded bee-eater

Weight
82.3 g – 89 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
6src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the blue-bearded bee-eater live?

Not recorded

What is the blue-bearded bee-eater?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni) is a species of bee-eater found in much of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. This bee-eater is found in forest clearings. It is found mainly in the Malayan region but extends west into peninsular India. The blue feathers of its throat are elongated and often fluffed giving it its name. They have a loud call but are not as gregarious or active as the smaller bee-eaters, and their square ended tail lacks the typical "wires" made up of the shafts of the longer central tail feathers found in many other bee-eaters.

From the Wikipedia article “Blue-bearded bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue-bearded_bee-eater&oldid=1314351366), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the blue-bearded bee-eater endangered?

The blue-bearded bee-eater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the blue-bearded bee-eater classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCoraciiformes
  5. familyMeropidae
  6. genusNyctyornis
  7. SpeciesNyctyornis athertoni (Jardine & Selby, 1828)

Synonyms Alcemerops athertoni, Alcemerops paleazureus, Buccia athertoni, Bucia nipalensis, Merops assamensis, Merops cyanogularis, Napophila athertoni, Napophila meropina, Nyctiornis amherstiana, Nyctiornis caeruleus

Other names and names in other languages (39)
  • وروار أزرق اللحيةArabic
  • নীলদাড়ি সুইচোরাBangla
  • Gwespetaer barv glasBreton
  • abellerol barbablauCatalan
  • vlha modrobradáCzech
  • gwenynysor glasfarfWelsh
  • Blåskægget BiæderDanish
  • BlaubartspintGerman
  • BlaubartbienenfresserGerman
  • blubarba abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • Abejaruco barbiazulSpanish
  • sinihabe-mesilasenäppEstonian
  • siniampiaissyöjäFinnish
  • Guêpier à barbe bleueFrench
  • indiai remetegyurgyalagHungarian
  • Gruccione barbazzurraItalian
  • アオムネハチクイJapanese
  • ನೀಲಿಗಲ್ಲದ ಕಳ್ಳಿಪೀರKannada
  • melsvabarzdis naktinis bitininkasLithuanian
  • കാട്ടുവേലിത്തത്തMalayalam
  • मधुमक्षी भक्षकाNepali
  • BlauwbaardbijeneterDutch
  • blåskjeggbieterNorwegian
  • żołna brodataPolish
  • abelharuco-azuláceoPortuguese
  • abelharuco-de-barba-azulPortuguese
  • Синебородая щуркаRussian
  • Синебородая ночная щуркаRussian
  • bradáčnik modrobradýSlovak
  • modrobradi legatSlovenian
  • Plavobrada pčelaricaSerbian
  • blåskäggig biätareSwedish
  • காட்டுப் பஞ்சுருட்டான்Tamil
  • นกจาบคาเคราน้ำเงินThai
  • Gök Sakallı ArıkuşuTurkish
  • бджолоїдка великаUkrainian
  • Trảu lớnVietnamese
  • 蓝须夜蜂虎Chinese
  • 藍鬚夜蜂虎Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the blue-bearded bee-eater

Other species in the same genus Nyctyornis.

CompareBlue-bearded bee-eater vs Red-bearded bee-eater

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the blue-bearded bee-eater?

An adult blue-bearded bee-eater weighs 82.3 g – 89 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the blue-bearded bee-eater endangered?

The blue-bearded bee-eater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the blue-bearded bee-eater?

The blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni) belongs to the family Meropidae in the order Coraciiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-bearded-bee-eater

MLA

“Blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-bearded-bee-eater.

BibTeX
@misc{blue_bearded_bee_eater_2026,
  title = {Blue-bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-bearded-bee-eater},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}