2013 Bonanza Bird #26: European Bee-eater

July 26, 2013 in Bee-eaters and Birdorable Bonanza 2013 with 8 comments

There are just a few more days to go in our Bonanza! On Wednesday we will reveal our 500th bird, but today we introduce #26 in the Bonanza and #495 overall - the European Bee-eater.

The European Bee-eater is an extremely colorful species of bird that breeds across much of Europe. These striking feathered jewels are migratory and most spend the winter across the southern half of Africa. There are 26 species of bee-eater in the world. This family is appropriately named - they are known to eat a lot of bees!

European Bee-eater by Sandra (CC BY 2.0)

Bees have stingers and venom, so how do bee-eaters safely consume them? After a bee (or wasp or other stinging insect) is captured, the bird beats the insect on a hard surface. This act both removes the stinger and extracts most of the venom. Once this is complete, the insect is consumed. European Bee-eaters eat other insect too, but only flying ones. Prey is always captured on the wing -- perched insects are simply ignored!

Tomorrow's new species is a bird of prey from Africa that, like today's bee-eater, is named in part for what it likes to eat.

Comments

Gustavo Carvalho on July 26, 2013 at 9:40 PM wrote:

African Fish Eagle?

ILOVEBIRDS! on August 5, 2013 at 5:34 AM wrote:

So colorful :)

Jays and Kestrels on September 10, 2013 at 7:39 PM wrote:

yeah I wish i had them where i live XD

Louise Warner on February 7, 2017 at 4:06 PM wrote:

african fish eagle?becasuse of Its shape?the birds eat mainly fish but will also eat the occasional baby flamingo.thay are so powerful.with a wingspn of 8 feet.

Harpy Eagle on July 4, 2017 at 10:46 PM wrote:

Fish eagle or snail kite.

Spurwing Plover on April 21, 2020 at 5:07 AM wrote:

SQUAWK SQUAWK KRRAAAAWWWW SKTREEET SKREEEEE

Spurwing Plover on July 7, 2021 at 2:50 AM wrote:

Bee Eaters with rub the bee against a branch to get rid of the venom they play it smart they also smack the bee on a branch to stun it before they eat

Pesquet's Parrot is a Vampire on December 18, 2024 at 6:57 PM wrote:

What if the Bee-eater uses a tube to eat alot of bees? 🐝🐝🐝

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.

Your name (required)

Your email address (required)

Your email address will not be published

Comment (required)

I agree to receive updates and news from Birdorable

You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices, and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. By clicking submit below, you consent to allow Birdorable to store and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the content requested.

2017 Bonanza Bird #6: Common Pochard

November 29, 2017

Today's new bird in our annual Birdorable Bonanza is an Old World species of duck: the Common Pochard! The Common Pochard is a migratory duck found across parts of Europe and Asia. They are gregarious, found in large (sometimes mixed) flocks during...

2018 Bonanza Bird #2: Palila

November 23, 2018

Today our 2018 Bonanza continues with a Hawaiian species of honeycreeper: the Palila! Many species of Hawaiian honeycreeper are endangered or face threats, and the Palila is no different, unfortunately. The Palila is considered to be critically endangered, due in part to...

New Coloring Pages for Warbler Week

May 27, 2018

New World warblers are famous for their fabulous colors, especially during spring migration when the birds have their fresh breeding plumage. For Warbler Week we've added five new warbler coloring pages to our free downloads collection: Direct link to the coloring pages:

Pierre the Lesser Black-backed Gull

February 4, 2015

We're celebrating the world's gulls this week! Join us as we highlight these social and intelligent birds. Today we'd like to tell you about a special individual bird. Lesser Black-backed Gulls generally breed across northern parts of Europe and Asia. In the winter they move down across...

Birdorable Blog