European bee-eater
Merops apiaster Linnaeus, 1758
The European bee-eater (Merops apiaster), also called the bee-eater, is a bird in the family Meropidae and the order Coraciiformes. It is a small, migratory invertivore whose main foods are bee, beetle, butterfly, termite and wasps, and it forages by perching.
Quick facts about the European bee-eater
Adults weigh 56.6 g with a wingspan of 47 cm, and the species has a woodland habitat and a geographic range of 11,030,000 km². It lays one clutch per year with 5.85 eggs per clutch, incubated for 20 days, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 54.4 g – 56.6 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 47 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 5.91 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 7 years
- Main food
- bee, beetle, butterfly, termite, waspssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 20 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.85 – 6.3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- 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
How big is the European bee-eater?
Photos of the European bee-eater
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the European bee-eater live?
Not recorded
What is the European bee-eater?
The European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is a bird species in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It has the largest range of any bee-eater species, breeding in southern and central Europe, northern and southern Africa, and western Asia. Except for the resident southern African population, the species is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa. This species occurs as a spring overshoot north of its usual range, with occasional breeding in northern Europe.
From the Wikipedia article “European bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=European_bee-eater&oldid=1375908519), 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.
What does the European bee-eater sound like?
Is the European bee-eater endangered?
The European 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. What the categories mean.
How is the European bee-eater classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCoraciiformes
- familyMeropidae
- genusMerops
- SpeciesMerops apiaster Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Merops chrysocephalus, Merops flavicollis, Merops galilaeus, Merops glandarius, Merops schaeghaghi
Other names and names in other languages (128)
- Bee-eaterEnglish
- Bee-eaterEnglish
- EUBEEnglish
- Europese ByvreterAfrikaans
- Europese ByevreterAfrikaans
- صقرقعArabic
- وروار أوروبيArabic
- آكل النحل الأوربيArabic
- Abellaruelo europeyoAragonese
- abeyarucuAsturian
- Qızılı qızlarquşuAzerbaijani
- ЙәшелғошBashkir
- Шчурка-пчалаедкаBelarusian
- Залацістая шчуркаBelarusian
- ПчелоядBulgarian
- Обикновен пчелоядBulgarian
- ইউরোপীয় মৌমাছি-খাদকBangla
- Gwespetaer boutinBreton
- Шарга балшаBuriat
- AbellerolCatalan
- abellerol comúCatalan
- МӱкшкекMari
- МӱкшлоецMari
- СӑпсаҫиенChuvash
- کەندەسمەCentral Kurdish
- VespaghjuCorsican
- vlha pestráCzech
- gwybedog gwenynWelsh
- gwybedog y gwenynWelsh
- Gwybedogion y GwenynWelsh
- biæderDanish
- BienenspechtGerman
- BienenfresserGerman
- ŞalûrZaza
- ΜελισσοφάγοςGreek
- Ευρωπαϊκός ΜελισσοφάγοςGreek
- (Ευρωπαϊκός) ΜελισσοφάγοςGreek
- eŭropa abelmanĝuloEsperanto
- AbejarucoSpanish
- abejaruco comúnSpanish
- Abejaruco europeoSpanish
- mesilasenäppEstonian
- Erle-txoriBasque
- زنبورخوار معمولیPersian
- mehiläissyöjäFinnish
- ByflugubíturFaroese
- býflugubíturFaroese
- guêpier deuropeFrench
- Guêpier d'EuropeFrench
- Guêpier d’EuropeFrench
- BijefretterWestern Frisian
- beachadóirIrish
- Beachadóir EorpachIrish
- Abellaruco europeoGalician
- کرکورهGilaki
- Ushag ny shellanynManx
- שרקרק מצויHebrew
- Žuta pčelaricaCroatian
- piripióHungarian
- gyurgyalagHungarian
- gyurgyókaHungarian
- méhészmadárHungarian
- Ոսկեգույն մեղվակերArmenian
- Berek-berek eropaIndonesian
- BýsvelgurIcelandic
- BysvelgurIcelandic
- GruccioneItalian
- ヨーロッパハチクイJapanese
- ოქროსფერი კვირიონიGeorgian
- БжьэшхKabardian
- Сарыалқым аражегішKazakh
- ಹಳದಿಗಲ್ಲದ ಕಳ್ಳಿಪೀರKannada
- 유럽벌잡이새Korean
- ŞehlûrKurdish
- GwenynessorCornish
- BeiefrësserLuxembourgish
- bitininkasLithuanian
- europinis bitininkasLithuanian
- bišu dzenisLatvian
- пчеларкаMacedonian
- യൂറോപ്യൻ വേലിത്തത്തMalayalam
- Шарга балчMongolian
- AparuloNeapolitan
- bieterNorwegian Bokmål
- bijeneterDutch
- bietarNorwegian Nynorsk
- SerenaOccitan
- Mehilässyöjyolo
- ÆхсыргурOssetic
- żołnaPolish
- żołna (zwyczajna)Polish
- żołna zwyczajnaPolish
- یورپی مکھی-کھاناWestern Panjabi
- AbelheiroPortuguese
- AbelharucoPortuguese
- abelharuco-comumPortuguese
- abelharuco-europeuPortuguese
- prigorieRomanian
- или пчелоедкаRussian
- золотистая щуркаRussian
- UvloborriNorthern Sami
- ivdnesáittášNorthern Sami
- včelárik zlatýSlovak
- čebelarSlovenian
- babiliAlbanian
- babiljaAlbanian
- bletorja e verdhëAlbanian
- bregcaAlbanian
- brojcaAlbanian
- grikllaAlbanian
- peligorgaAlbanian
- zarigogaAlbanian
- PčelaricaSerbian
- ПчеларицаSerbian
- Europäisken IemenfreeterSaterland Frisian
- biätareSwedish
- ஐரோப்பியப் பஞ்சுருட்டான்Tamil
- arikusuTurkish
- arıkuşuTurkish
- Avrupa Arı KuşuTurkish
- moRokapulaTswana
- БджолоїдкаUkrainian
- бджолоїдка звичайнаUkrainian
- Trảu châu ÂuVietnamese
- Wespî d' UropeWalloon
- BieneterZeelandic
- 黃喉蜂虎Chinese
- 黄喉蜂虎Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the European bee-eater
Other species in the same genus Merops.
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
White-fronted bee-eater
Merops bullockoides
CompareEuropean bee-eater vs Asian green bee-eaterEuropean bee-eater vs Blue-cheeked bee-eaterEuropean bee-eater vs Blue-tailed bee-eaterEuropean bee-eater vs Rainbow bee-eater
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the European bee-eater?
The European bee-eater is a bird in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. It is classed as small by adult body mass and is migratory.
How big is the European bee-eater?
An adult European bee-eater weighs 56.6 g and has a wingspan of 47 cm.
What does the European bee-eater eat?
The European bee-eater is an invertivore whose main foods are bee, beetle, butterfly, termite and wasps.
Is the European bee-eater endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the European bee-eater live?
Sources give a lifespan of 5.9 years for the European bee-eater, with values up to 7 years.
How many eggs does the European bee-eater lay?
The European bee-eater lays 5.85 eggs per clutch, with values up to 6.3, and has one clutch per year. Incubation lasts 20 days.
When does the European bee-eater reach maturity?
The European bee-eater reaches sexual maturity at 1 year (364.6 days).
Who named the European bee-eater?
The European bee-eater, Merops apiaster, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - 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).
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CreatureData. (2026). European bee-eater (Merops apiaster). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/european-bee-eater
“European bee-eater (Merops apiaster).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/european-bee-eater.
@misc{european_bee_eater_2026,
title = {European bee-eater (Merops apiaster)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/european-bee-eater},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}