Rosy bee-eater

The rosy bee-eater (Merops malimbicus) is a species of bird in the genetic family Meropidae. The rosy bee-eater is found in the countries of Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo.

 Taxonomy 
English naturalist George Shaw first described the rosy bee-eater in 1806 as Merops malimbicus. This type of rosy bee-eater is from Malimbe, Cabinda in Angola. Lots of small studies say that this species is most closely related to the two other bee-eaters. These are the white-throated bee-eater (Merops albicollis) and the northern carmine bee-eater (M. nubicus).

 Description 
The adult rosy bee-eater is a distinctively colored bird. The rosy bee-eater grows to a length of  with tail-streamers adding  to its length. The rosy bee-eater  weighs about . Both sexes look similar. The forehead and crown of the head are dark grey. The mask of the face is black and the chin and cheek are white. The mantle is black and the wings and back are slate-grey. The rump is paler grey. The tail is carmine, gradually getting whiter to grey. The throat and underparts are bright pink and the  covert feathers under the tail are grey. The undersides of the flight feathers and large tail feathers are glossy black. The beak is black and the eyes are reddish-brown. The legs are yellowish-brown. The young rosy bee-eaters are similar in coloring to the adults, but paler. Many of the feathers of the young rosy bee-eater have pale edges.

 Ecology 
Like other bee-eaters, the rosy bee-eater feeds on insects that it catches in the air. The rosy bee-eater looks for food in various habitats. It sometimes looks for food close to the surface of water bodies. Other times it looks in savannas and woodlands, or above the canopies of forests. While doing this, it sometimes flies up to a pretty high height. A large part of the rosy bee-eater's diet is flying ants, but these birds also feed on other insects. They can also eat bees, butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, flies and beetles.  Flocks that are all looking for food may be very large and birds may dip into the water during flight to bathe. Nesting takes place on raised beaches and sandbars of large rivers. These spots are usually created by falling water levels. Holes are dug with the feet and passages may be  or so long. Only a few colonies are known but these may be very large.  The colonies have estimated nest counts of 8,000 to 27,300 or more.  The nests in colonies have a density of about two nesting holes per square metre. The colony may nest in the same location for multiple years.  However, the nests that have been rained on during the rainy season need to be re-dug.

 References 

Category:IUCN Red List least concern species
Category:Coraciiformes
Category:Birds of Africa
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