Small but Dazzling: Meet the Little Bee-eater, Upemba’s Aerial Acrobat

Communication
May 13
2 min read

Upemba National Park, DRC – #BirdyTuesday

With a flash of emerald green and a whisper-soft call, one of Upemba’s most charming residents takes to the air. Meet the Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) – a tiny insect-hunting specialist with vibrant colors and an outsized role in our ecosystem.

Measuring just 15 to 17 cm and weighing a mere 15 grams, the Little Bee-eater is the smallest of Africa’s bee-eaters. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in style. Its plumage is a painter’s palette: green upperparts, a bright yellow throat, a bold black collar, and a buffy ochre belly. Add a turquoise eye patch and slender, curved beak – and you’ve got a bird that’s hard to miss and easy to love.

Unlike its more flamboyant cousins, this bee-eater tends to be quiet, usually giving off just a soft “seep” as it swoops gracefully after flying insects. Perching low – often under a meter off the ground – it launches with precision, catching bees, wasps, and hornets mid-air. Before eating, it performs a signature move: removing the insect’s stinger by beating it against a branch – a small but impressive display of instinctive ingenuity.

Though they are solitary nesters, digging burrows in sandy banks or near Aardvark dens, they are social in other ways. At dusk, they gather in rows on tree branches to roost together, forming colorful lines of stillness against the setting sun. They lay 4 to 6 white eggs, quietly continuing their cycle of life beneath the forest canopy.

In ecological terms, Little Bee-eaters play several vital roles:

As insectivores, they help regulate flying insect populations, including potential agricultural pests.
They are prey for larger predators, feeding the web of life.
Their modest nesting behavior can contribute to soil aeration, though they are not major habitat modifiers.
Occasionally, their appetite for bees may bring them into conflict with beekeepers, but their overall ecological value outweighs the nuisance.

Found across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Little Bee-eater is abundant in the open habitats of Upemba National Park – from savanna edges to riverbanks. Their graceful flight, vibrant colors, and essential ecological function make them one of the park’s understated treasures.