CreatureData

Swallow-tailed bee-eater

Merops hirundineus A. A. H. Lichtenstein, 1793

LCLeast Concernbirds

The swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus) is a species in the family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh 19.8 g to 21.7 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus)
Photo: Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the swallow-tailed bee-eater

Weight
19.8 g – 21.7 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.8 – 3src 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

Where does the swallow-tailed bee-eater live?

Not recorded

What is the swallow-tailed bee-eater?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus) is a species of bee-eater native to sub-Saharan Africa. It feeds predominantly on insects, especially bees and their relatives, which are caught in flight from an open perch. Its vivid colors and forked tail are distinctive.

From the Wikipedia article “Swallow-tailed bee-eater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swallow-tailed_bee-eater&oldid=1332779562), 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 swallow-tailed bee-eater endangered?

The swallow-tailed 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.

How is the swallow-tailed bee-eater classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCoraciiformes
  5. familyMeropidae
  6. genusMerops
  7. SpeciesMerops hirundineus A. A. H. Lichtenstein, 1793

Synonyms Dicrocercus hirundineus, Merops hirundinaceus

Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • STBEEnglish
  • SwaelstertbyvreterAfrikaans
  • وروار سنونوي الذيلArabic
  • Abellerol hengrinetaAragonese
  • abellerol cua d'orenetaCatalan
  • vlha vlaštovčíCzech
  • gwenynysor fforchogWelsh
  • SvalehalebiæderDanish
  • SchwalbenschwanzspintGerman
  • Hirundvosta abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • hirundovosta abelmanĝuloEsperanto
  • Abejaruco golondrinaSpanish
  • harksaba-mesilasenäppEstonian
  • haaramehiläissyöjäFinnish
  • Guêpier à queue d'arondeFrench
  • Guêpier à queue d'hirondelleFrench
  • Guêpier à queue d’arondeFrench
  • pčelarica lastarkaCroatian
  • fecskefarkú gyurgyalagHungarian
  • Gruccione coda di rondineItalian
  • エンビハチクイJapanese
  • kregždžiauodegis bitininkasLithuanian
  • ZwaluwstaartbijeneterDutch
  • svalebieterNorwegian
  • żołna widłosternaPolish
  • abelharuco-andorinhaPortuguese
  • abelharuco-de-cauda-forcadaPortuguese
  • Ласточкохвостая щуркаRussian
  • včelárik lastovičíSlovak
  • lastovičji čebelarSlovenian
  • Lastorepa pčelaricaSerbian
  • svalstjärtad biätareSwedish
  • Kırlangıç Kuyruklu ArıkuşuTurkish
  • seSelamarumoTswana
  • бджолоїдка вилохвостаUkrainian
  • Sả đuôi én ăn ongVietnamese
  • 燕尾蜂虎Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the swallow-tailed bee-eater

Other species in the same genus Merops.

CompareSwallow-tailed bee-eater vs European bee-eaterSwallow-tailed bee-eater vs Asian green bee-eaterSwallow-tailed bee-eater vs Blue-cheeked bee-eaterSwallow-tailed bee-eater vs Blue-tailed bee-eater

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the swallow-tailed bee-eater?

An adult swallow-tailed bee-eater weighs 19.8 g – 21.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the swallow-tailed bee-eater endangered?

The swallow-tailed 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 swallow-tailed bee-eater?

The swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus) 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). Swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swallow-tailed-bee-eater

MLA

“Swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swallow-tailed-bee-eater.

BibTeX
@misc{swallow_tailed_bee_eater_2026,
  title = {Swallow-tailed bee-eater (Merops hirundineus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swallow-tailed-bee-eater},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}