CreatureData

Purple-bearded bee-eater

Meropogon forsteni Bonaparte, 1850

LCLeast Concernbirds

The purple-bearded bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni) is a species in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 55 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Purple-bearded bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni)
Photo: Francesco Veronesi from Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the purple-bearded bee-eater

Weight
55 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
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 purple-bearded bee-eater live?

Not recorded

What is the purple-bearded bee-eater?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The purple-bearded bee-eater or Celebes bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni) is a species of bee-eater endemic to the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. This species is often seen in clearings inside dense forest.

The purple-bearded bee-eater is the only member of the genus Meropogon. Its scientific name commemorates Eltio Alegondas Forsten (1811–1843) who collected in the East Indies between 1838 and 1842.

From the Wikipedia article “Purple-bearded bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Purple-bearded_bee-eater&oldid=1381871843), 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 purple-bearded bee-eater endangered?

The purple-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. What the categories mean.

How is the purple-bearded bee-eater classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCoraciiformes
  5. familyMeropidae
  6. genusMeropogon
  7. SpeciesMeropogon forsteni Bonaparte, 1850

Synonyms Meropogon forsteni centralis

Other names and names in other languages (38)
  • وروار أرجواني اللحيةArabic
  • Gwespetaer SulawesiBreton
  • abellerol de SulawesiCatalan
  • vlha celebeskáCzech
  • gwenynysor barfog SwlawesiWelsh
  • Sulawesi BiæderDanish
  • CelebesspintGerman
  • Celebes-SpintGerman
  • celebesa abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • Purpurbarba abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • Abejaruco de CélebesSpanish
  • purpur-mesilasenäppEstonian
  • celebesinampiaissyöjäFinnish
  • Guêpier des CélèbesFrench
  • שרקרק סגול-חזהHebrew
  • sulaveška pčelaricaCroatian
  • erdei remetegyurgyalagHungarian
  • Cirik-cirik sulawesiIndonesian
  • Gruccione barbaviolaItalian
  • セレベスハチクイJapanese
  • sulavesinis bitininkasLithuanian
  • SulawesibijeneterDutch
  • purpurbieterNorwegian
  • żołna purpurowogłowaPolish
  • abelharuco-azulãoPortuguese
  • abelharuco-de-barba-púrpuraPortuguese
  • abelharuco-purpúreoPortuguese
  • Бородатая щуркаRussian
  • Сулавесская щуркаRussian
  • včelárik bradatýSlovak
  • bradati legatSlovenian
  • Pčelarica ljubičaste bradeSerbian
  • sulawesibiätareSwedish
  • นกจาบคาเคราม่วงThai
  • Selebes ArıkuşuTurkish
  • бджолоїдка сулавеськаUkrainian
  • 须蜂虎Chinese
  • 紫鬚蜂虎Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the purple-bearded bee-eater

Other species in the same family Meropidae.

ComparePurple-bearded bee-eater vs European bee-eaterPurple-bearded bee-eater vs Asian green bee-eaterPurple-bearded bee-eater vs Blue-cheeked bee-eaterPurple-bearded bee-eater vs Blue-tailed bee-eater

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the purple-bearded bee-eater?

An adult purple-bearded bee-eater weighs 55 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the purple-bearded bee-eater endangered?

The purple-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 purple-bearded bee-eater?

The purple-bearded bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni) 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). Purple-bearded bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-bearded-bee-eater

MLA

“Purple-bearded bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-bearded-bee-eater.

BibTeX
@misc{purple_bearded_bee_eater_2026,
  title = {Purple-bearded bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-bearded-bee-eater},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}