Ethiopian bee-eater
Merops lafresnayii Guérin-Méneville, 1843
The ethiopian bee-eater (Merops lafresnayii) is a species in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 22.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the ethiopian bee-eater
- Weight
- 22.5 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
- Not recorded
- 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 ethiopian bee-eater live?
Not recorded
What is the ethiopian bee-eater?
The Ethiopian bee-eater (Merops lafresnayii) is a species of bird in the family Meropidae. It is found in Ethiopia and Sudan. It was formerly considered a subspecies of either blue-breasted bee-eater M. variegatus or cinnamon-chested bee-eater M. oreobates, from both of which it is allopatric with a separate distribution.
The Ethiopian bee-eater is a bird of open montane woodland (including coffee and eucalyptus plantations), occurring at 1,000–3,200 metres (3,300–10,500 ft) altitude, often on steep slopes, but also on flatter land on the Ethiopian plateau. Like its two relatives, it is usually solitary or in pairs, not gregarious like many other bee-eaters. It perches on a branch in the canopy beside tracks and clearings and swoops down on small butterflies, bees, and other insects before returning to its original or another perch.
From the Wikipedia article “Ethiopian bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ethiopian_bee-eater&oldid=1354293074), 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 ethiopian bee-eater endangered?
The ethiopian bee-eater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the ethiopian bee-eater classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCoraciiformes
- familyMeropidae
- genusMerops
- SpeciesMerops lafresnayii Guérin-Méneville, 1843
Synonyms Melittophagus lafresnayii, Melittophagus lafresnayii lafresnayii, Merops lafresnayii lafresnayii, Merops variegatus lafresnayii, Sphecophobus lafresnayii
Other names and names in other languages (22)
- Cinnamon-chested bee-eaterEnglish
- ETBEEnglish
- abellerol d'EtiòpiaCatalan
- vlha etiopskáCzech
- Etiopisk BiæderDanish
- HochlandspintGerman
- Äthiopischer BienenfresserGerman
- etiopia abelmanĝuloEsperanto
- Abejaruco etíopeSpanish
- ylänkömehiläissyöjäFinnish
- Guêpier de LafresnayeFrench
- etiopska pčelaricaCroatian
- Etiopinis bitininkasLithuanian
- Ethiopische BijeneterDutch
- blåpannebieterNorwegian
- żołna niebieskoczelnaPolish
- abelharuco-etíopePortuguese
- včelárik etiópskySlovak
- etiopienbiätareSwedish
- Etiopisk biätareSwedish
- бджолоїдка ефіопськаUkrainian
- 埃塞俄比亚蜂虎Chinese
Relatives of the ethiopian bee-eater
Other species in the same genus Merops.
European bee-eater
Merops apiaster
Asian green bee-eater
Merops orientalis
Blue-cheeked bee-eater
Merops persicus
Blue-tailed bee-eater
Merops philippinus
Rainbow bee-eater
Merops ornatus
Chestnut-headed bee-eater
Merops leschenaulti
CompareEthiopian bee-eater vs European bee-eaterEthiopian bee-eater vs Asian green bee-eaterEthiopian bee-eater vs Blue-cheeked bee-eaterEthiopian bee-eater vs Blue-tailed bee-eater
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the ethiopian bee-eater?
An adult ethiopian bee-eater weighs 22.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the ethiopian bee-eater endangered?
The ethiopian 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 ethiopian bee-eater?
The ethiopian bee-eater (Merops lafresnayii) 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.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Ethiopian bee-eater (Merops lafresnayii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ethiopian-bee-eater
“Ethiopian bee-eater (Merops lafresnayii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ethiopian-bee-eater.
@misc{ethiopian_bee_eater_2026,
title = {Ethiopian bee-eater (Merops lafresnayii)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ethiopian-bee-eater},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}