| Actual Image
Blue-throated Bee-eater (10)
mjjoe
![Silver Note Writer [C: 4 W: 0 N: 21]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/n-n-s.gif) (154) | Blue-throated Bee-eater
Merops viridis
Beberek, Berek Berek Pirus/Leher Biru (Malay)
Bee-eaters get their names from their diet of stinging insects (bees, wasps, hornets, ants). They specialise in catching and neutralising these titbits that other birds find unappetising or dangerous.
But Bee-Eaters also catch and eat other harmless insects especially dragonflies, and also grasshoppers, butterflies. Occasionally, they may eat small lizards and fish.
Bee-eaters catch their prey on the wing. They look out for suitable prey from a tree branch or high wire (about 7m and above) then swoop down onto it. They snap up their victims with an audible click, their long, narrow bills keeping these dangerous prey a good distance away from the eyes. To get rid of the sting, the insect is vigorously whacked against the perch. Or simply squeezed to get rid of the venom.
Bee-eaters are said to be attracted to smoke; to snap up insects driven out as land is cleared by fire for agricultural use.
Blue-throated Bee-eaters forage over the canopy of lowland forest, but also over mangroves, and relatively open habitats such as grasslands, marshes, beach scrub and even gardens and urban areas. Blue-throated Bee-eaters usually forage in pairs, sometimes in small groups, rarely above 15. But they may gather in flocks to hawk on swarming insects (termites, ants), together with Swifts and Swallows. But they roost together in trees in mangroves and forests.
Shutter 1/500 f5.6 300mm ISO 500
Notes from : www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Merops_viridis.htm |
|
