ABSTRACT
The Little Bee-eater forms a species-group with the Blue-breasted, Cinnamon-chested and Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters. In Kenya, the last of these species is known from only a single record, while the other three are broadly sympatric but ecologically segregated: the Blue-breasted from the Little in longer, wetter grass, and the Cinnamonchested from both in forest edge and woodland 24 species, absent only from the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions. 18 are found in the Afrotropical Region, where 14 are endemic. 12 occur in Kenya, where nine breed at least intermittently, two are non-breeding migrants from the Palearctic, and the Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is an extralimital wanderer. The Madagascar Bee-eater and the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater have been considered nonspecific. This super species forms part of a species-group with the Eurasian Bee-eater. This bee-eater is a fairly common and widespread non-breeding migrant from the N tropics, mainly Sept-Apr, occurring only on passage in the W.
