A White-fronted Bee-Eater, Merops bullockoides, perched on a lichen-encrusted branch in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, East Africa.
Bee-eaters are a family of colourful, agile birds which perch on branches to look out for passing insects, which they sally out to catch, then take them back to their perch, where they bash bees etc and rub them against the branch to remove their stings, then they toss them up in the air and catch them so that they go down head first.
White-fronted Bee-eaters nest in colonies of about six families, in riverbanks or sandy cliffs. They have a very complex bird ‘society’ and practise co-operative breeding whereupon the breeding pair of each family has many helpers, relatives who help to raise the chicks. Individuals may switch between breeding and helping several times over their lives. The families in each nesting colony form a clan who band together to defend their territory from neighbouring clans.
This image is copyright © Liz Leyden. All rights strictly as agreed in writing with the author or her agent.
This image of a White-fronted Bee-eater is for sale as wall art or as various home or personal accessories at Pixels.com.
My original photo, from this artwork is derived, is available for purchase as a stock photo from iStock.
