Bee -eaters are back!

Just in the last week I have noticed many bee-eaters zooming around the finca, flashes of gorgeous colour and the high pitched trill making one look up to see the distinctive wing pattern of these delightful birds. On the finca they nest in a colony in part of the exposed earth of a stone terrace in the horses' field. The nests are made by excavating long tunnels into the earth bank, the 5 to 8, spherical white eggs per nest are laid around the beginning of June. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs, which are brooded for about 3 weeks. Hence the sudden appearance of all the new fledglings now at the beginning of
August.


Just as the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. Before eating its meal, a European Bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface. It eats some 250 bees daily.

The Spanish name for bee-eaters is abejarrucos, latin name Merops apiaster.