African Green Bee-eater (Merops viridissimus)
The range of this species extends throughout the Sahel of sub-Saharan Africa from southwest Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia in the west to southern Sudan, Eritrea and immediately-adjacent regions of western Ethiopia in the east; from here the species extends north into the Nile Valley up to the Delta, and patchily south through South Sudan to northernmost Uganda.
Three subspecies are currently recognised, as follows:
M. v. viridissimus - found throughout the bulk of the species range, from Senegal in the west to Eritrea, Ethiopia, and western Sudan.
M. v. flavoviridis - found throughout the arid northern margins of the species range, from Chad in the west to the Red Sea coastline of Sudan in the east.
M. v. cleopatra - found throughout the Nile Valley of Egypt north to the Delta, with non-breeding populations following the Nile through southern Sudan into South Sudan.
No photographs of this taxon currently exist in the Zoochat gallery.
Arabian Green Bee-eater (Merops cyanophrys)
The range of this species extends throughout the western, southern and central Arabian Peninsula; disjunct populations occur in southern Israel and western Jordan, and in northern Oman and the UAE.
Two subspecies are currently recognised, as follows:
M. c. cyanophrys - found throughout the bulk of the species range.
M. c. muscatensis - restricted to the western and central Arabian Plateau.
Photograph of a wild individual (
M. c. cyanophrys) in Jordan, taken by
@TheoV :
Asian Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis)
The range of this species extends throughout much of southern and southeast Asia, from southwest Iran in the west, through the Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka, to south-central China in the east, and from here throughout Indochina.
Four subspecies are currently recognised, as follows:
M. o. beludschicus - found from southwest Iran in the west, through Pakistan to northwest India in the east.
M. o. orientalis - found from the extreme southwest of Pakistan, throughout Peninsular India to Bangladesh.
M. o. ceylonicus - endemic to Sri Lanka.
M. o. ferrugeiceps - found throughout Indochina, and northwest into Assam and adjacent south-central China.
Photograph of a wild individual (
M. o. ceylonicus) in Sri Lanka, taken by
@Terry Thomas :
Photograph of a wild individual
(M. o. ferrugeiceps) in Bagan, Myanmar, taken by
@Chlidonias :
Böhm's Bee-eater (Merops boehmi)
The range of this species represents a pair of disjunct populations in eastern Africa; from southeast DRC and southwest Tanzania into northern and central Zambia; and throughout eastern Tanzania into central and southern Malawi and adjacent regions of Mozambique.
Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon currently exist in the Zoochat gallery.
Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops viridis)
The range of this species extends from southeast China and Hainan Island in the north, throughout eastern and southern Indochina into the Malay Peninsula, and from here into Sumatra, Java and Borneo; populations in the north of this range are migratory breeders only.
Monotypic.
Photograph of a wild individual in Taman Jubli Perak, Brunei, taken by
@Hix :
Rufous-crowned Bee-eater (
Merops americanus)
Endemic to the Philippines; absent from Palawan and the Sulu Archipelago.
Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon currently exist in the Zoochat gallery.
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (
Merops persicus)
The breeding range of this species represents a collection of highly-fragmented and patchily distributed disjunct populations throughout northern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia; wintering populations occur throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Sierra Leone in the west to Ethiopia and Somalia in the east, and south to southern Angola and northeast South Africa, but are absent from the Congo Basin.
Two subspecies are currently recognised, as follows:
M. p. chrysocercus - disjunct breeding populations occur in northern Morocco and Algeria, southwest Mauritania and immediately-adjacent Senegal, central Mali and southwest Chad; wintering populations occur throughout coastal West Africa south to Angola.
M. p. persicus - breeding populations occur patchily and in a highly-fragmented distribution from the Nile Delta into the Middle East and Central Asia, extending as far east as east-central Kazakhstan in the north, and northwest India and adjacent regions of eastern Pakistan in the south; wintering populations occur throughout tropical East Africa.
Photograph of a wild individual (
M. p. chrysocercus) in Bijilo Monkey Park, The Gambia, taken by
@vogelcommando :
Photograph of a captive individual (
M. p. persicus) at Zoo Magdeburg, taken by
@MagpieGoose :
Madagascar Bee-eater (Merops superciliosus)
The range of this species extends patchily throughout eastern Africa, from Eritrea, north-central Ethiopia and northwest Somalia in the north to southeast Mozambique and northern Zimbabwe in the south, and east into Madagascar and the Comoros; a disjunct population is present within southwest Angola and adjacent northwest Namibia.
Two subspecies are currently recognised, as follows:
M. s. superciliosus - found throughout eastern Africa, Madagascar and the Comoros.
M. s. alternans - found throughout southwest Angola and northwest Namibia.
Photograph of a wild individual (
M. s. superciliosus) taken at Andriafamena Reserve, Madagascar by
@Therabu
Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus)
The summer breeding range of this species extends throughout the Himalayas and adjacent regions of the northern Indian Subcontinent from northern Pakistan in the west to Assam and northern Myanmar in the east, and from here into southeast China and northern Indochina; wintering populations occur in southern India, Sri Lanka, the Malay Peninsula and the Greater Sundas. Resident breeding populations occur in southern Indochina, the Philippines, Sulawesi, eastern New Guinea and New Britain.
Monotypic.
Photograph of a captive individual at Taipei Zoo, taken by
@RatioTile :
Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus)
The summer breeding range of this species extends throughout Australia, but is largely absent from the central desert regions; wintering populations occur throughout New Guinea, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Monotypic.
Photograph of a captive individual at Featherdale Wildlife Park, taken by
@WhistlingKite24 :
European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)
The summer breeding range of this species extends throughout much of the western and central Palaearctic, from northwest Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and continental western Europe as far north as Denmark, throughout Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia to northwest China, westernmost Mongolia and the western foothills of the Himalayas; a disjunct resident population is present in southernmost South Africa. Wintering populations occur throughout coastal West Africa, east-central and southern Africa, and also in Sri Lanka and adjacent Peninsular India.
Monotypic.
Photograph of a captive individual at Zoo Antwerpen, taken by
@KevinB :
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti)
The range of this species extends throughout the southern foothills of the central and eastern Himalayas into Assam, south-central China and northern Myanmar, and from here south into Indochina and Peninsular Malaysia; disjunct populations occur in coastal southwest and southeast India, Sri Lanka, southeast Sumatra and Java. Himalayan populations represent summer breeding migrants which spend the winter months in Indochina.
Three subspecies are currently recognised, as follows:
M. l. leschenaulti - found throughout the mainland range of the species, and on Sri Lanka.
M. l. andamanensis - endemic to the Andaman and Coco Islands.
M. l. quinticolor - found throughout southeast Sumatra, Java and Bali.
Photograph of a wild individual
(M. l. leschenaulti) in Sri Lanka, taken by
@chrisroughley :
Rosy Bee-eater (Merops malimbicus)
The range of this species is restricted to the western Congo Basin and adjacent regions of West Africa, from southern Nigeria in the west to west-central DRC in the east, and south to Gabon, western Congo and northwest Angola; migrant populations occur in coastal Ghana, Togo and Benin.
Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon currently exist in the Zoochat gallery.
Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus)
The range of this species extends throughout the Sahel of sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and southwest Mauritania in the west to Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the east, and south from here into southern Somalia and northeast Kenya; populations along the northern margins of this range are migrant, and move south towards coastal West Africa and into eastern Tanzania.
Monotypic.
Photograph of a captive individual at Pakawi Park, taken by
@KevinB :
Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides)
The summer breeding range of this species extends through south-central Africa, from south-central Angola in the west, through Zambia, northern Botswana and Zimbabwe to Malawi and northwest Mozambique in the east; wintering populations extend south from here into northern Namibia, north-central Botswana, southern Mozambique and northeast South Africa, and north into central and northern Angola, southern DRC, Burundi and western Tanzania.
Monotypic.
Photograph of a wild individual in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, taken by
@Giant Eland :
.
given how attractive the members of the former group are, and the fact that I suspect we have a fairly good level of representation within the Zoochat gallery for the species within, I reckon the rollers, kingfishers, motmots and allies will be a very fine place to start!