European Bee-Eater. (Medium - 10 X 25 Cms/ 4

Bee-eaters, with their fantastic combination of rainbow colours and streamlined shape, are virtually unmistakable when seen well.

They breed in holes in sandpits, riverbanks and quarries and feed in open or semi-open country.

Bee-eaters are one of the few European species in which the young in the nest are fed, not just by their parents but also by additional 'helpers'. Genetic studies have shown that these 'helpers' are invariably the brothers and sisters of the birds being fed, usually the offspring from a previous brood. If nest sites are limited by the size of the sandbank, then helping their siblings to survive is the most useful thing that young Bee-eaters can do until they can claim a nest-site of their own.

Winters almost exclusively in sub-Saharan Africa although some will winter in India. In these wintering grounds they are regarded as pests by bee-keepers and culled by the thousands. Birds migrate by day in small flocks, especially along the Black Sea coast and over the Straits of Gibraltar.