European Bee-eater
Merops apiaster
The bee-eater beats a captured bee hard against its perch several times until the venom gland has emptied – only then is it swallowed. Considered lost from Germany in the late 1980s, this colourful species has since returned and increased more strongly than almost any other breeding bird.
- Group
- Songbirds
- Photos
- 2
- Taken
- 2019
Profile: European Bee-eater
- Family
- Bee-eaters (Meropidae)
- Size
- approx. 25–29 cm (incl. tail streamers)
- Wingspan
- approx. 36–40 cm
- Habitat
- Warm, open landscapes with steep banks of loess, sand or clay – including gravel and sand pits – in which it digs its nesting burrows.
- Diet
- Larger flying insects, above all bees, wasps, bumblebees and hornets, plus dragonflies, grasshoppers and flying beetles – almost always caught on the wing.
- When to see
- Long-distance migrant: present from about April/May to September, wintering in Africa, mainly from West Africa to Angola.
Learn more: Wikipedia · NABU (German)