Editing Bee-eater (section)

==Status==
[[File:Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides) (16732824032).jpg|thumb|The [[southern carmine bee-eater]] is adversely affected by persecution and habitat loss.]]

The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) assesses species vulnerability in terms of total population and the rate of any population decline. None of the bee-eaters meet the IUCN vulnerability criteria, and all are therefore evaluated as "[[Least-concern species]]".<ref name="iucnwhole" />

Open country species, which comprise the majority of bee-eaters, have mostly expanded in range as more land is converted to agriculture, but some tropical forest species have suffered declines through loss of habitat, although no species or subspecies gives serious cause for concern. There is some human persecution of bee-eaters, with nest holes being blocked, adults shot or [[birdlime|limed]], or young taken for food. More generally problematic is the unintended destruction of nests. This can occur through cattle trampling, as with the blue-headed bee-eater in Kenya, or loss of forests, with massive conversion of native forest to [[oil palm]] plantations in Malaysia being particularly concerning.<ref name="hbwfamily" />

A study of the southern carmine bee-eater in Zimbabwe showed that it was affected by deliberate interference and persecution and loss of woodlands, and that nesting sites are lost through poor water management leading to river bank damage, dam construction and panning for gold. Colonies are becoming concentrated into the [[national park]]s and the [[Zambezi]] Valley. The well-studied European bee-eater is trapped and shot on migration in countries bordering the [[Mediterranean]], an estimated 4,000–6,000 annually being killed in Cyprus alone, but with a global population of between 170,000 and 550,000 pairs even losses on that scale make little overall impact.<ref name="hbwfamily" />