• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Merops orientalis, M. viridissimus and M. cyanophrys (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as M. orientalis following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	15 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	11,000,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	increasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.12 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be fairly common locally over its entire range (del Hoyo et al. 2001). The population is suspected to be increasing as agricultural expansion and irrigation is creating new areas of suitable habitat. It has expanded its range northwards in Egypt (del Hoyo et al. 2001).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be increasing as agricultural expansion and irrigation is creating new areas of suitable habitat. It has expanded its range northwards in Egypt (del Hoyo et al. 2001).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Benin	extant	native	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Central African Republic	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Egypt	extant	native	yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Gambia	extant	native	yes
Libya	extant	vagrant
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Desert	Hot	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Freshwater Springs and Oases	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1250 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: African Green Bee-eater Merops viridissimus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/african-green-bee-eater-merops-viridissimus on 02/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 02/01/2025.