Rainbow Bee-eaters
Every spring we look forward to the return of one of our favourite Australian birds, the Rainbow Bee-eaters. They usually arrive sometime in October – this year they are a little earlier than normal by a few weeks.
No photos yet
Today we heard several calling when we were working out in my wife’s Australian native plant nursery. We didn’t see them but it was great to hear their calls. I am sure we will get great views over the coming months as they hawk for bees and other insects in our garden. There is a wild bee-hive in a tree hollow and it’s like a smorgasbord laid on for them. I haven’t yet taken a photo of these spectacularly coloured birds, so stay tuned. UPDATE: I now have a good photo – see below.
Nesting habits
They have often nested in the vicinity of our property. The last time was in the sand bank on the side of the road running down one side of our place. They make a 30-40cm nesting hollow in the sand. As a child I was fascinated that these birds made a little tunnel for the nest.
Further reading:
Rainbow Bee eater
Fascinated by a pair of rainbow bee-eaters who appear to have become part of the bird life on our creek. In all they make the 65th species of birds I have identified so far since living on a tidal creek in Frederickton near Kempsey NSW. These beautiful little birds seem to have claimed one area on our property and I was amazed to read they nest in little burrows.
Welcome Carolyn – thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Getting a list of 65 species is a great start to your list – how long have you been there?
In that area I would imagine that your eventual list could be well over 100 different species, perhaps even 150. Well done for being so observant.
Thanks for commenting on the Rainbow Bee-eaters. It reminded me to update this page with a photo I took several years ago. Stunning birds – we had several near our house yesterday but they didn’t hang around long. Sigh.