Carmine Bee-eaters (Merops nubicus & M. nubicoides) Fact Sheet: Reproduction & Development

Breeding biology not well-studied

Monogamous

• Live in very large colonies
• May include hundreds or thousands of birds

Aerial pursuits common

• Birds display near nesting time

Male offers "gifts" to female

• Copulation may follow female receiving an insect gift from male

Nest in cliff face

• Tunnel into cliff to build a nest
• Tunnels sometimes excavated 3-4 months before laying time (when ground is soft after rainy season) (Fry 1984)
• Both sexes help dig burrows (Ryan 2009)
• Nest placement
• Typically higher on the cliff face though at time dug at ground level
• Nest located on flat ground in Lake Turkana Basin and along the Niger River (Fry 1984)
• Tunnel dimensions
• 1-2 m (3.3-6.6 ft) long
• Nest chamber
• Not lined with cushioning material, thus broken eggs are common (Fry 1984)
• Nest density
  
• 60 holes/m²
• Nest longevity
• Same cliff face may be used for many generations

Behavior prior to laying

• Birds in a colony known to "panic"
  • Birds fly rapidly away from cliff nest holes (from Fry 1984)
    • The cause of this behavior is not known
  • Observations of behavior occurring shortly before egg laying begins

Clutch size

• 2-3 usually
  • Up to 5 eggs possible
  • Larger clutches produced at higher altitudes (Fry 1984)

Incubation

• Duration
  • 20-21 days, based on records from managed care (Elston et al. 2007)
• Brooding
  • Females sit on the nest for longer periods than than males

Hatching

• Chicks hatch 1-3 days apart
  • Strong size difference in nestlings

Intraspecific nest parasitize

• Carmine Bee-eaters will take one another's nests
  • Females remove eggs of the original inhabitant

Nestlings

• Care
• Both parents provide food
• Father feeds the nestlings more often than does the mother
• Some reports of "helpers"
• Unknown whether or not Carmine Bee-eaters have helpers at the nest in the wild (Elston et al 2007)
• Some reports of possible helpers in Southern Carmines' nests (Ryan 2009)

Fledgling

• Fledge after 23-30 days (Brooke et al. 1991)
• Care
• Parents provision young for up to 6 weeks after fledging (Fry 1984)
• Parents once observed attempting to dig young out of a landslide that destroyed their nest (Fry 1984)

Adults

• Plumage
• Achieve adult plumage at c. 6 months

Wild populations

• About 7 years

Managed care

• No AZA estimates

Nest predation

• Monitor lizards carry off chicks from burrows

Killed by humans

• Targeted for their colorful feathers or as a food source (Ryan 2009)
• Many bee-eaters killed by agriculturists who believe they are a threat to bee hives (Fry 2001)

Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides) in northwestern Botswana.

Image credit: © Tarique Sani from Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Brooke et al (1991)
Elston et al (2007)
Fry (1984)
Ryan (2009)
ZIMS (2015)