The Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoide) is a bird native to sub-equatorial Africa. As the name suggests, their diet consists largely of bees, as well as other insects including beetles, dragonflies and moths. The birds are often treated as pests by beekeepers and farmers, due to their effective predation of pollinators.

Sketch by Claudia Lu. Fact by Isabelle McDonald

[Edited by Isabelle McDonald]

Source: Kopij, G. (2018). Diet of sympatrically breeding Southern Carmine Bee-eater Merops nubicoides and White-fronted Bee-eater Merops bullockoides.  Ostrich, 89(2), 191-194.  https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2018.1425928