Bee-Eaters: Meropidae

Bee-eaters range throughout the tropics of the Old World, with their center of population in northern and tropical Africa. They are also found in Madagascar, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Australia.

Bee-eaters live in areas of open, lightly wooded country such as savannas (flat grasslands), woodlands, steppes (large, often treeless, plains), and scrub deserts. Some species prefer rainforests. They are often found near water.

Bee-eaters are not threatened. However, because they eat only poisonous insects, which are often controlled by humans with the use of pesticides (chemicals used to control pests), they are vulnerable to the effects of such chemicals.