Atlas of nesting birds in Bulgaria

European Bee-eater

(Merops apiaster)

Category of conservation concern (IUCN, 2020) – Least Concern

Population size: 25 000 – 50 000 pairs

Distribution pattern

Distributed over almost the entire territory of the plains and hills of the country – more grouped in neighbouring squares in the Danubian Plain, the Ludogorie, the Dobrudzha, the Thracian Plain, the Sub-Balkan Valleys, the Eastern Rhodopes, the Sakar, the Eastern Stara Planina, the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta, etc.

Big size map

Breeding distribution 2013 – 2020 – The distribution and the estimation of the population size of the species for the period 2013 – 2020 is presented –

Comparative distribution of the species compared to the first breeding birds atlas (Iankov, 2007): Breeding locality until 2007 | Breeding locality until 2007, confirmed after 2015 – | New breeding locality after 2015. – The breeding localities after 2015 are identified on a base of raw data from smartbirds.org.

Habitats

Breeds in vertical soil, sand or loess walls, owing to which it is found in sites where such walls exist – the banks of the rivers and other water bodies, valleys, roadside slopes, quarries for extraction of aggregates, etc.

Trends in population changes for the period 2013-2020

Not analysed

Threats

Not analysed