The purple-bearded bee-eater or Celebes bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is an endemic resident on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. This species is often seen in clearings inside dense forest.
The purple-bearded bee-eater is the only member of the genus Meropogon. Its scientific name commemorates Eltio Alegondas Forsten (1811–1843) who collected in the East Indies between 1838 and 1842.
The purple-bearded bee-eater is a colourful long bird with a long tail, long slender decurved beak and rather rounded wings. It is 25–26 cm (9.8–10.2 in) long, excluding 66 cm (26 in) of tail streamers.
The adult male has a purple head, face, “beard” (long hanging throat feathers), breast and upper belly. The upperparts, wings and tail are green, apart from a reddish-brown nape, and the central tail feathers are elongated as streamers. The lower belly is reddish-brown and the underside of the tail is chestnut.
The adult female is similar, but the forebelly is reddish-brown, not purple. Young birds have a green crown and nape, dusky face and bluish beard. They lack the elongated central tail feathers of the adult.
The purple-bearded bee-eater undertakes seasonal movements, breeding inland in the dry season, and moving to the coast in the rainy season. Like other bee-eaters it nests in burrows up to 90 cm long tunnelled into the side of sandy river banks, cliffs and cuttings, but does not form colonies.