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The Rainbow bee-eater (Merops ornatus) is a bird found in Australia. Open woods, farms and coasts across Australia and New Guinea. It eats insects and other small invertebrates. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Rainbow bee-eater lives

Open woods, farms and coasts across Australia and New Guinea.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs100%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Rainbow bee-eater

Recorded by nick talbot (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC368119. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Rainbow bee-eater

Where does the Rainbow bee-eater live?

The Rainbow bee-eater lives in Australia. Open woods, farms and coasts across Australia and New Guinea.

What does the Rainbow bee-eater eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 100%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Rainbow bee-eater endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Australia & Oceania

• Northern royal albatross
• Northern rockhopper penguin
• Cape gannet
• Sooty albatross
• Australian painted-snipe
• Sunset lorikeet

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.