Merops apiaster Linnaeus, 1758.

Length 28-31 cm. A very colorful mainly blue-green bird with a chestnut crown and mantle, also some chestnut on the wings; the throat and lower back are yellow and there is a distinct black eyestripe and necklace. Central tail feathers are somewhat projecting. The Eurasian Bee-eater is found on cultivated land with scattered trees and also in shrubby semi-desert. The diet consists largely of bees, wasps, and dragonflies. If it catches a stinging bee or wasp, it rubs the insect’s tail on the perch to remove the sting and swallow it. Pairs usually stay together for life, often in well-defined colonies and nest colonially; nest burrows are in flat or sloping sandy ground but usually in earthen banks. The nest-digging process takes 10-20 days. The seven eggs are incubated for 10-20 days and the naked and blind chicks, which are later covered in spiky grey feather sheaths, are tended by both parents. This is a very common passage migrant and a rare localized breeder. On migration, it can be seen and heard in large, noisy flocks. It is found in the Eastern and Western Deserts and Sinai and breeds in northeast Sinai and Rafah.