Geographical Distribution Of Bee Eaters:
Bee-eater birds are named after their ability to prey on bees. These birds inhabit African and Asian continents, few of these are found in Australia, New Guinea and southern areas of Europe.
These average-sized birds and male and females look similar by appearance. They are medium-sized, boisterous birds; males and females look nearly alike.
`Social Behaviour Of Bee Eater Bird:
Bee-eaters live in a very close-knit community, in massive colonies of about 100-200 birds. They can very well recognize their parents and other family members as a result of their voice recognition ability. Most species have monogamous relationships; however, few are polygamous.
This social togetherness of bee-eater enables them to efficiently protect their young ones against the predators. Bee-eaters come out of their underground tunnel nest after dawn and they are extensively known for sunbathing, which they use as a mechanism to get rid of ectoparasites.
The adults who are not actively breeding during the breeding season help the breeding couples in taking care of their young ones. However, some species are solitary and do not help each other.
`Similarity With Other Bird Species:
Bee-eaters are included in order Coraciiformes, due to which they share extreme similarity with kingfishers, hornbills, motmots, todies and rollers. Fused forward toes, sharp coloured feathers and nesting preferences constitute the major resemblance between birds of this order. Mostly, bee-eaters named based on either colour of their plumage or geographical distribution.
`Local Habitats Around The World:
Different species of bee-eaters like to inhabit different types of localities. White-fronted bee-eaters reside in sandy and woody, grasslands regions, they don’t live in dense forests. The bee-eater bird exists in African grassland. You will find this kind of bird near the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.
Such birds form colonies near bare faces of cliffs. They usually migrate during the breeding season.
White-throated bee-eaters reside in Sahara, hence adapted to dry climate but they migrate also to tropical rain forests occasionally. Such open grounds facilitate the breeding.
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Bee-eaters dig holes in the earth and use those as a nest for laying their eggs. This spot is also known as the “hole home”.
`Diet For Bee-Eater Bird:
The Bee-eater bird feeds on a wide range of insects. But the major food source is a bee. They love to have bees in their meal. This becomes the feast. That is why they are called the insectivores in term of science.
They also eat flies. The feeding habits vary with the season. They hunt flies, insects and bees in different ways. They fly swiftly from lower twigs and branches of trees and attack the insects. Another way of hunting is to perch and drift in slow motion to capture the prey.
The best spot of feeding for this bee-eater bird is safari park. This spot is the rich source of mealworms, crickets, and bees living in hives around the park. The same way these bees will survive better way in the zoo.
For the feeding, they mostly come out of nests in the form of flocks.
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`Life Cycle OF A Bee-Eater Bird:
These birds are diurnals in nature. They usually cover a long distance to find a suitable area for the nesting. Interestingly they take sunbath purposefully. This sunbath along with dust bath helps them to get free of any ectoparasites in the environment.
When the breeding season comes, they eat various foods that are rich in calcium. This calcium-containing food includes snail shells and sand. Mostly they eat these things late afternoon.
During the nesting period, they socialize at many burrows in the dusk. When this season is over, they go back to their resting spots before late evening.
One type of bee-eater birds is the white-fronted bee-eater bird. Hundred such individuals form colonies to live together. They perform activities like digging the cliffs or banks for the sake of roosting and nesting. The colony of this bee-eater bird is very cooperative among themselves.
Contrary to this the southern carmine specie is not cooperative despite living as a colony. There is no division of labour among them.
Bee-Eater Bird’s Voice:
These are the vociferous birds. They soar very high when flying in the form of flocks with a straight head. When the cream, their voice is like rolling liquid sound. There is a sound called hubbub. You can easily hear this far away from the nesting colony. Thus, you can say them the singing birds.
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`Such calls are usually contacted one another in the flock. The other musical sounds reveal that they are calling for appeasement or greeting. They also call a loud sound if they feel any threat or in case of any predator alarm.
They also give calls called deep squeak. And one of the calls is to provide a meal to the young ones.
`Threats For Bee-Eater Bird:
Human activities are constantly affecting the bee-eaters in such a disastrous way. Hunting and loss of habitat is the primary threat for these birds. Their natural predators include Hawk, which they avoid by flying in groups and coming out after dawn.
