lirralirra

Rainbow Bee-eaters are stunningly beautiful whenever you see them, but when it’s dull and drizzling they are an almost unbelievable splash of colour.

Rainbow Bee-eaters catch their food on the wing. They eat mainly bees and wasps but will also take other flying insects like dragonflies and butterflies. Before swallowing the bee in this photograph the bee-eater rubbed it against the branch to remove the bee’s stinger – they do this with bees and wasps to remove the venom.

Their colours are magnificent and I loved watching them dart around, twisting and turning, to catch their prey before returning to a branch to eat.

The Rainbow Bee-eater in the first image is female. Her tail filaments/streamers are short and stubby compared with the long, graceful tail filaments of the male in the high-key photograph above. The three photographs in this post were taken within five minutes of each other but each background is very different. The first background shows the darkness of the nearby trees and bushes, which highlights the individual raindrops. The photograph above was taken against the cloudy sky, while the shot below (my favourite) shows the middle level background with eucalyptus leaves and sky enhancing the shot.

It’s not just the background that I like in the photograph above but also the beautiful colours of the bird’s back. Rainbow Bee-eater is the perfect name for this glorious species.

Happy birding, Kim

~ Browse prints and gifts Lirralirra Shop
~ Facebook page Kim Wormald – lirralirra
~ Facebook group  Ethical Bird Photography