Bee-eater

I looked out from the kitchen window and there were lots of swallows flying in the valley above the river. But as I looked closer they looked bigger than swallows and had beautiful colours. I could now see that it was Bee-eaters, a whole flock of them, gliding back and forward, busy catching insects.

I have since learned that they, as the name suggests, eat bees, wasps and other flying insects, which they catch in the air. Honey bees predominate in their diet. Before eating, the Bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting and rubbing the insects on a hard surface. During this process, pressure is applied to the insect, thereby extracting most of the venom.

Bee-eaters are seasonally monogamous. The birds form colonies by nesting in burrows tunnelled into the side of sandy banks at ground level or into the side of earth cliffs. They live in colonies and lay 2-9 eggs per clutch.

The ones that are here in southern Spain are migrants to West and South Africa.

Photo: courtesy of Nina, a very dear guest