CreatureData

Blue-cheeked bee-eater

Merops persicus Pallas, 1773

LCLeast Concernbirds

The blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus) is a species in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh 48 g to 49.4 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus)
Photo: El Golli Mohamed · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the blue-cheeked bee-eater

Weight
48 g – 49.4 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
desertsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
21 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
5.7 – 6src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the blue-cheeked bee-eater live?

Not recorded

What is the blue-cheeked bee-eater?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus) is a species of bee-eater that breeds in Northern Africa and the Middle East from eastern Turkey to Kazakhstan and India. It is generally strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa, although some populations are resident year-round in the Sahel. This species occurs as a rare vagrant north of its breeding range, with most vagrants occurring in Italy and Greece.

From the Wikipedia article “Blue-cheeked bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue-cheeked_bee-eater&oldid=1380578513), 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-cheeked bee-eater endangered?

The blue-cheeked 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. What the categories mean.

How is the blue-cheeked bee-eater classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCoraciiformes
  5. familyMeropidae
  6. genusMerops
  7. SpeciesMerops persicus Pallas, 1773

Synonyms Merops superciliosus persicus

Other names and names in other languages (72)
  • BlouwangbyvreterAfrikaans
  • وروار أزرق الخدArabic
  • القارية زرقاء الخدينArabic
  • أكل النحل أزرق الخدArabic
  • Abellerol de PersiaAragonese
  • Yaşıl qızlarquşuAzerbaijani
  • Зелен пчелоядBulgarian
  • Gwespetaer-PersiaBreton
  • abellerol persaCatalan
  • Abellerol de PèrsiaCatalan
  • Ыжар мӱкшкекMari
  • vlha modrolícíCzech
  • gwenynysor bochlasWelsh
  • grøn biæderDanish
  • BlauwangenspintGerman
  • BlauwangenbienenfresserGerman
  • Πράσινος μελισσοφάγοςGreek
  • Persa abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • persia abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • Abejaruco persaSpanish
  • rohe-mesilasenäppEstonian
  • Erle-txori papargorriBasque
  • زنبورخوار گلوخرماییPersian
  • vihermehiläissyöjäFinnish
  • Grønur byflugubíturFaroese
  • Guêpier de PerseFrench
  • Beachadóir PeirseachIrish
  • Beachaire gormleicneachIrish
  • Abellaruco persaGalician
  • Eeder-shellan lieckan-gorrymManx
  • שרקרק ירוקHebrew
  • plavolica pčelaricaCroatian
  • Zöld gyurgyalagHungarian
  • perzsa gyurgyalagHungarian
  • Կանաչ մեղվակերArmenian
  • FlugnasvelgurIcelandic
  • Gruccione egizianoItalian
  • Gruccione del MadagascarItalian
  • Gruccione di PersiaItalian
  • ルリホオハチクイJapanese
  • КъумщуKabardian
  • Жасыл аражегішKazakh
  • ನೀಲಿ ಕೆನ್ನೆಯ ಕಳ್ಳಿಪೀರKannada
  • mėlynskruostis bitininkasLithuanian
  • Persijas bišķērājsLatvian
  • നീലക്കവിളൻ വേലിത്തത്തMalayalam
  • निळ्या गालाचा राघूMarathi
  • blåkinnbieterNorwegian Bokmål
  • groene bijeneterDutch
  • blåkinnbietarNorwegian Nynorsk
  • Vihandumehilässyöjyolo
  • żołna modrolicaPolish
  • نیلیاں گلاںوالا مکھی کھاناWestern Panjabi
  • abelharuco-persaPortuguese
  • Abelharuco-de-faces-azuisPortuguese
  • зелёнаяRussian
  • Зеленая щуркаRussian
  • Зелёная щуркаRussian
  • или персидская щуркаRussian
  • Ruoná uvloborriNorthern Sami
  • včelárik modrolíciSlovak
  • zeleni čebelarSlovenian
  • Velika zelena pčelaricaSerbian
  • grön biätareSwedish
  • yesil arikusuTurkish
  • yeşil arıkuşuTurkish
  • moRokapulaTswana
  • Зелена щуркаUkrainian
  • Бджолоїдка зеленаUkrainian
  • 蓝颊蜂虎Chinese
  • 藍頰蜂虎Chinese
  • isiThwelathwelaZulu

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the blue-cheeked bee-eater

Other species in the same genus Merops.

CompareBlue-cheeked bee-eater vs European bee-eaterBlue-cheeked bee-eater vs Asian green bee-eaterBlue-cheeked bee-eater vs Blue-tailed bee-eaterBlue-cheeked bee-eater vs Rainbow bee-eater

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the blue-cheeked bee-eater?

An adult blue-cheeked bee-eater weighs 48 g – 49.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the blue-cheeked bee-eater endangered?

The blue-cheeked 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-cheeked bee-eater?

The blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus) 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-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-cheeked-bee-eater

MLA

“Blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-cheeked-bee-eater.

BibTeX
@misc{blue_cheeked_bee_eater_2026,
  title = {Blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-cheeked-bee-eater},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}