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

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	57 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	56,700,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	13,600,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	18400000-28000000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2018
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.95 years	-	-	-

Population justification: In Europe, the total population size is estimated at 7,370,000-11,200,000 mature individuals, with 3,680,000-5,600,000 breeding pairs (BirdLife International 2021), and comprises approximately 40% of the species' global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is between 18,400,000-28,000,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is desirable. In Europe, the species' population is considered to have remained relatively stable over three generations (10 years) (BirdLife International 2021). Declines may be occurring in some parts of the range owing to loss of suitable prey due to widespread application of pesticides, loss of nesting sites through canalisation of rivers, increasing agricultural efficiency and establishment of monocultures, development of wilderness areas and shooting for sport, for food and because it is considered a crop pest (Fry and Boesman 2014). However, based on the data from Europe, and the proportion of the species' global range that this region holds, the global population size is considered likely to be stable over three generations.

Trend justification:    .

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	native		yes
Albania	extant	native		yes
Algeria	extant	native
Angola	extant	native
Armenia	extant	native		yes
Austria	extant	native		yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native		yes
Bahrain	extant	native				yes
Belarus	extant	native		yes
Belgium	extant	native		yes
Benin	extant	native
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native		yes
Botswana	extant	native
Bulgaria	extant	native		yes		yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native
Burundi	extant	native
Cameroon	extant	native
Cape Verde	extant	vagrant
Central African Republic	extant	native
Chad	extant	native
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Congo	extant	native
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native
Croatia	extant	native		yes
Cyprus	extant	native		yes		yes
Czechia	extant	native		yes
Denmark	extant	native		yes		yes
Djibouti	extant	native
Egypt	extant	native
Eritrea	extant	native
Estonia	extant	vagrant
Eswatini	extant	native
Ethiopia	extant	native
Finland	extant	native		yes
France	extant	native		yes		yes
Gabon	extant	native
Gambia	extant	native
Georgia	extant	native		yes
Germany	extant	native		yes		yes
Ghana	extant	native
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	native				yes
Greece	extant	native		yes		yes
Guinea	extant	native
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native
Hungary	extant	native		yes		yes
Iceland	extant	vagrant
India	extant	native		yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native		yes		yes
Iraq	extant	native		yes		yes
Ireland	extant	vagrant
Israel	extant	native		yes
Italy	extant	native		yes		yes
Jordan	extant	native		yes		yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native		yes
Kenya	extant	native
Kuwait	extant	native				yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native		yes
Latvia	extant	native		yes
Lebanon	extant	native		yes		yes
Lesotho	extant	native
Liberia	extant	native
Libya	extant	native
Liechtenstein	extant	vagrant
Luxembourg	extant	vagrant
Madagascar	extant	vagrant
Malawi	extant	native
Maldives	extant	vagrant
Mali	extant	native
Mauritania	extant	native
Moldova	extant	native		yes		yes
Montenegro	extant	native		yes
Morocco	extant	native
Mozambique	extant	native
Namibia	extant	native
Netherlands	extant	native		yes
Niger	extant	vagrant
Nigeria	extant	native
North Macedonia	extant	native		yes
Norway	extant	vagrant
Oman	extant	native		yes		yes
Pakistan	extant	native		yes
Palestine	extant	native		yes		yes
Poland	extant	native		yes
Portugal	extant	native		yes
Qatar	extant	native				yes
Romania	extant	native		yes
Russia	extant	native		yes		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes		yes
Rwanda	extant	native
Saudi Arabia	extant	native				yes
Senegal	extant	native
Serbia	extant	native		yes
Seychelles	extant	vagrant
Sierra Leone	extant	native
Slovakia	extant	native		yes
Slovenia	extant	native		yes
Somalia	extant	native
South Africa	extant	native
South Sudan	extant	native				yes
Spain	extant	native		yes		yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native			yes
Sudan	extant	native
Sweden	extant	native		yes
Switzerland	extant	native		yes
Syria	extant	native		yes		yes
Tajikistan	extant	native		yes
Tanzania	extant	native
Togo	extant	native
Tunisia	extant	native
Türkiye	extant	native		yes
Turkmenistan	extant	native		yes
Uganda	extant	native
Ukraine	extant	native		yes		yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	native		yes		yes
United Kingdom	extant	native		yes
Uzbekistan	extant	native		yes
Western Sahara	extant	native
Yemen	extant	native				yes
Zambia	extant	native
Zimbabwe	extant	native

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Armenia	Khosrov Reserve
Austria	Lösslandschaft and Wagram east of Krems
Bulgaria	Adata-Tundzha
Bulgaria	Ludogorie
Bulgaria	Nikopolsko Plateau
Bulgaria	Stenata
Bulgaria	Zlatiata
France	Basse Vallée du Doubs : Dole Sud
France	Etangs de Canet et de Villeneuve-de-la-Raho et embouchure du Tech
France	Hautes garrigues du Montpellierais
France	Ile de la Platière
France	Plaine des Maures
France	Vallée du Régino
Greece	Evros delta
Greece	Kato Olympos, Tempi gorge and mount Ossa
Greece	Lake Ismarida (Mitrikou)
Greece	Nestos gorge
Greece	Porto Lagos, lake Vistonida and coastal lagoons
Russia (European)	Bryansko-Zhizdrinskoye woodland
Spain	Bajo Alcanadre-Serreta de Tramaced
Spain	Cinca river rice fields and steppe area
Spain	Córdoba countryside
Spain	Enguera mountain range-La Canal de Navarrés
Spain	La Safor and North Alicante mountain ranges
Spain	Lerida steppes
Spain	Mountains of Barcelona
Spain	Rivers Cabriel and Júcar canyons
Spain	Turia canyon and Los Serranos
Ukraine	Agricultural lands near Bilorets'ke (Chornozemne village)
Ukraine	Berezans'kyj lyman and Solonets Tuzly pond
Ukraine	Gajchur river valley
Ukraine	Izyums'ka Luka forest
Ukraine	Kakhovs'ke reservoir (Energodar)
Ukraine	Kakhovs'ke reservoir (Kajiry village)
Ukraine	Kakhovs'ke reservoir (Vasylivka village)
Ukraine	Karachunivs'ke reservoir
Ukraine	Samars'kyj forest
Ukraine	Tsybul'kivs'ki lakes
Ukraine	Velyka Osokorovka

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	breeding
Forest	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Savanna	Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 3000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: European Bee-eater Merops apiaster. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/european-bee-eater-merops-apiaster on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.