Bee-eater

Bee-eaters are colorful birds found mainly in Africa and Asia, with some living in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They belong to the family Meropidae and have three genera with thirty-one species. These birds are known for their bright feathers, thin bodies, and long, pointed tail feathers. Both males and females usually look similar.

As their name suggests, bee-eaters eat flying insects, especially bees and wasps. They catch these insects while flying and then remove the stingers by hitting and rubbing them on a hard surface. This process makes the insects safe to eat.

Most bee-eaters live in groups and build their nests in burrows dug into sandy banks beside rivers or flat ground. Their nests often appear in large groups, with many holes close together. Each nest usually has five white eggs, and both parents help take care of the babies, sometimes with help from other birds in the group.

Taxonomy

Bee-eaters were first named as a group by a French scientist in 1815. The name comes from an Ancient Greek word meaning "bee-eater." The English word "bee-eater" was first used in 1668 for the European type of bee-eater.

Bee-eaters look quite similar to each other, though they are usually split into three groups. One group has two large species with long throat feathers. Another has just one species with a special "beard." The rest of the bee-eaters are in a single group, and some of them are very closely related to each other.

Description

Bee-eaters are a group of birds that look quite similar to each other. They have big heads, short necks, bright colorful feathers, and short legs. Their wings can be rounded or pointed, depending on how they like to fly and where they live. Some bee-eaters stay in one place, while others travel long distances.

Their bills are long, curved, and end in a sharp point, which they use to catch insects in the air. They have sharp claws on their feet for perching and making nests. Most bee-eaters have green feathers, but some have other colors like rose or blue. Many have special long feathers on their tails. The males and females look almost the same, but there are small differences in some species. Each type of bee-eater has its own special call.

Distribution and habitat

Bee-eaters live in many places from Europe all the way to Australia. Africa has the most kinds of these birds, but they are also found in Asia. You can see one kind in Europe called the European bee-eater, another in Australia called the rainbow bee-eater, and a third in Madagascar called the olive bee-eater, which also lives in Africa.

These birds don't need special places to live. They just need a high spot to watch for food and a place on the ground to make their nests. They catch their food while flying, so they don't need any particular kind of plants around. One type, the blue-headed bee-eater, lives in rainforests where it hunts near the ground between big trees. Some other kinds also live near rainforests, along rivers, or in open spaces above the trees.

Many bee-eaters in Europe, Asia, and Australia move to different places depending on the season. For example, European bee-eaters that live in southern Europe and Asia travel to West and southern Africa when it's not breeding time. In Australia, the rainbow bee-eater moves around depending on where it is. Some bee-eaters in Africa also move from place to place after their breeding season.

Behaviour

Bee-eaters are active during the day, though some travel at night if the terrain makes it hard to stop or if they are crossing the sea. They are very social birds, often sitting or roosting so close together that they touch. Many species live in groups during breeding season, and some stay very social even when not nesting.

Some bee-eater species have complex social structures. They live in colonies on nesting cliffs with stable groups all year. These colonies have five to fifty nests, sometimes up to two hundred, made up of small family groups. The birds have helpers—older offspring—who assist with raising new chicks. The birds work together, with males guarding mates and sometimes trying to mate with others, while females may try to lay eggs in neighbour’s nests. Some birds even steal food from others in the group. Each day, they leave their nests at dawn, clean their feathers, and then spread out to find food. They return before dusk for more social time before sleeping. The colonies stay far apart but young birds might move between them.

Bee-eaters spend about ten percent of their day on comfort activities like warming up in the sun, bathing in dust or water, and cleaning their feathers. These activities help keep their feathers and skin healthy and remove parasites like mites and flies.

Diet and feeding

Bee-eaters hunt insects while flying or from a perch, watching for prey. Smaller bee-eaters hunt from branches close to the ground, while larger ones hunt from tree tops or wires. They can spot insects from far away—some see bees sixty metres off. They catch prey directly or from behind and eat small insects while flying, but larger ones are taken back to a perch, hit until dead, and then eaten. Bees and wasps, which have stings, are smacked on a branch first to remove the venom before being eaten. Bee-eaters eat many types of insects, but mostly wasps and bees, which can make up seventy percent of their diet. They also eat beetles, flies, and dragonflies.

Breeding

Bee-eaters form pairs during nesting season and sometimes stay together for several years. Courtship involves calling and displaying feathers, with one species doing a special “butterfly” flight display. They build nests in burrows dug into the ground, either in cliffs or flat soil. Both birds dig the nest together. The female lays one egg each day until she has about five eggs. Both parents take turns sitting on the eggs, which hatch after about twenty days. The baby birds are blind and naked at first. They stay in the nest for about thirty days. Some bee-eaters nest alone, while others live in large groups, with helper birds sometimes assisting the parents.

Predators and parasites

Bee-eater nests can sometimes be attacked by rats and snakes, and the adult birds are hunted by other birds like the Levant sparrowhawk. Some birds called the greater honeyguide and the lesser honeyguide lay their eggs in bee-eater nests. These birds are called "brood parasites". When the honeyguide chicks hatch, they may remove the bee-eater's eggs or chicks to make space for themselves.

Bee-eaters can also carry small insects that feed on their blood, such as certain types of flies, chewing lice, and fleas. These pests can be more common in nests where the birds live. Some fly larvae also live in bee-eater nests, eating waste and leftover food, which can actually help keep the nest cleaner for the baby birds.

Status

The International Union for Conservation of Nature checks how safe different animal groups are. For bee-eaters, none are in danger, so they are all called "Least-concern species".

Most bee-eaters live in open areas and are doing well as more land becomes farms. But some that live in tropical forests are losing their homes because of things like cutting down trees. Some people also hurt bee-eaters by blocking their nests or taking their babies for food. In places like Zimbabwe, bee-eaters lose their nesting spots because of things like building dams or digging for gold. In Europe, some bee-eaters are caught and hurt when they travel near the Mediterranean.

In culture

Bee-eaters have been noticed and talked about by people for a very long time. Ancient writers like Aristotle and Virgil wrote about these birds. In stories from Greek mythology, a character named Botres was turned into a bee-eater by the god Apollo.

The Ancient Egyptians believed bee-eaters had special powers and used parts of the bird for medicine. In Hinduism, people thought the shape of a bee-eater in flight looked like a bow and arrow.

Bee-eaters are shown in art from old times, like on a wall in a temple and in paintings from Rome. Today, bee-eaters appear on stamps from many countries around the world.