Species › Birds

European Bee-eater

Merops apiaster

Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Meropidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: common
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Abejaruco europeo

33% of its open observations in the area are from September.

Photograph: Sem Khatov, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 27–29 cm
Wingspan: 44–49 cm
Weight: 60 g

Presence in the Strait

Common summer visitor to open areas, more abundant during migration (>35,000).

Identification

Unmistakable due to its rich and gaudy plumage. Long tail with protruding central tail feathers; long, sharp bill and short legs. Juvenile birds display a more greenish colour. Light and acrobatic flying. Often perch on power lines.

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. April and 1st hf. September. Alcedinidae Martín Pescador Común Meropidae Abejaruco Europeo

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 9 September 2026.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Calendar in the Strait

33 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

Open observations: 10,939
First open observation: 28 November 1920
Latest open observation: 4 April 2026

Only observations with a CC0 or CC BY licence published on GBIF and OBIS for the extended area count. This is not the species' history in the Strait: a record in the editorial text may be far older than the first open observation, because nobody had published it under that licence.

Recorded in the field in the port area

Campamento port facilities

Documented by the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras at these sites. Download the APBA bird guide (PDF, in Spanish)

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Voice

Recordings with the licence checked file by file, served from this domain. Those marked “Strait” were recorded within the area. Each carries its author and licence.

0:45
StraitLos Barrios, Cádiz, 31 August 2026. Darío Calvente Viera, CC BY, via iNaturalist
0:45
StraitLos Barrios, Cádiz, 31 August 2026. Darío Calvente Viera, CC BY, via iNaturalist
0:10
StraitVejer de la Frontera, Provinz Cádiz, 25 August 2024. Annett Gallwas, CC BY, via iNaturalist

Latest observations on iNaturalist

31 August 2026 · Los Barrios, Cádiz · Darío Calvente Viera

Research-grade observations with a CC0 or CC BY licence in the extended area, last 365 days, dated by observation. They arrive in days, not months: this is what our own database does not have yet.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Meropidae
GBIF taxon key: 2475443

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Sem Khatov, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 9 September 2026