CreatureData

Blue-throated bee-eater

Merops viridis Linnaeus, 1758

LCLeast Concernbirds

The blue-throated bee-eater (Merops viridis) is a species in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh 34.8 g to 35.9 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Blue-throated bee-eater (Merops viridis)
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the blue-throated bee-eater

Weight
34.8 g – 35.9 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
woodlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4 – 4.2src 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

Photos of the blue-throated bee-eater

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Blue-throated bee-eater (Merops viridis)
Lip Kee · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the blue-throated bee-eater live?

Not recorded

What is the blue-throated bee-eater?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The blue-throated bee-eater (Merops viridis) is a species of bird in the bee-eater family. It is found in much of southeast Asia, in subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. Their diet consists mostly of bees, wasps, and dragonflies. Blue-throated bee-eater is a medium-large species of bee-eater with brightly coloured plumage consisting of a red-brown nape, dark green wings, light green breast, and their signature blue throat. The juvenile plumage has a dark green head and wings and light green breast, only developing their full plumage in adulthood. They have a rich variety of songs and calls, including long calls which allow them to communicate long distances in the forest.

The conservation status of the blue-throated bee-eaters is of "least concern" due to their large distribution and stability of its population as of 2024. However, deforestation may be its biggest threat, destroying its habitat and decreasing bird diversity generally.

From the Wikipedia article “Blue-throated bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue-throated_bee-eater&oldid=1339390612), 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-throated bee-eater endangered?

The blue-throated 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-throated bee-eater classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCoraciiformes
  5. familyMeropidae
  6. genusMerops
  7. SpeciesMerops viridis Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms Merops bicolor, Merops rochechouardi, Merops sumatranus, Merops sumatranus coeligenus, Merops viridis viridis

Other names and names in other languages (42)
  • وروار أزرق الحنجرةArabic
  • Gwespetaer gouzoug glasBreton
  • abellerol golablauCatalan
  • Abellerol gorjablauCatalan
  • vlha malajskáCzech
  • vlha modrohrdláCzech
  • gwenynysor gyddflasWelsh
  • Brunnakket BiæderDanish
  • MalaienspintGerman
  • Malaien-SpintGerman
  • MalaienbienenfresserGerman
  • blugorĝa abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • Abejaruco gorjiazulSpanish
  • lasuurkurk-mesilasenäppEstonian
  • indonesianmehiläissyöjäFinnish
  • Guêpier à gorge bleueFrench
  • kéktorkú gyurgyalagHungarian
  • Kirik-kirik biruIndonesian
  • Gruccione golabluItalian
  • Gruccione golazzurraItalian
  • ルリノドハチクイJapanese
  • malajinis bitininkasLithuanian
  • നീലകണ്ഠൻ വേലിത്തത്തMalayalam
  • Burung Berek-berek Rengkung BiruMalay
  • ပုစဉ်းထိုးလည်ပြာBurmese
  • Maleise BijeneterDutch
  • jadebieterNorwegian
  • żołna modrogardłaPolish
  • نیلے گاٹیوالا مکھی کھاناWestern Panjabi
  • abelharuco-de-garganta-azulPortuguese
  • Малайская щуркаRussian
  • včelárik modrohrdlýSlovak
  • malajski čebelarSlovenian
  • Plavogrla pčelaricaSerbian
  • blåstrupig biätareSwedish
  • นกจาบคาคอสีฟ้าThai
  • Mavi Boğazlı ArıkuşuTurkish
  • бджолоїдка синьогорлаUkrainian
  • Trảu đầu nâuVietnamese
  • 蓝喉蜂虎Chinese
  • 藍喉栗頭蜂虎Chinese
  • 藍喉蜂虎Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the blue-throated bee-eater

Other species in the same genus Merops.

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

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the blue-throated bee-eater?

An adult blue-throated bee-eater weighs 34.8 g – 35.9 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the blue-throated bee-eater endangered?

The blue-throated 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-throated bee-eater?

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

MLA

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

BibTeX
@misc{blue_throated_bee_eater_2026,
  title = {Blue-throated bee-eater (Merops viridis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-throated-bee-eater},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}