tags: ornithology, birds, avian, National Geographic
Painting the Sky
A brilliant blur as it plucks a butterfly from the air, the European bee-eater, Merops apiaster, leads a colorful life on three continents.
Image: Jözsef L. Szentpéteri/National Geographic [larger view].
My contact, an editor at National Geographic, just sent me a link to a story and photoessay that details the courtship and breeding of European Bee-eaters, Merops apiaster. The story is fascinating and well-worth reading and the photographs, as always for National Geographic, brings tears of wonder to one's eyes.
My immediate reaction to this image was "OH!." Remarkable work.
On rare occaisions they have at least attempted to nest here in the UK. I have never seen one over here, but they are very prominent birds in southern Europe - they like to perch on telephone wires when not wheling overhead in fair sized flocks
During a visit to the Forest at Fontainebleau in 2005, Didier, an accomodating French birder, was delighted to show me a colony of European Bee-eaters there. I have an indelible memory of these lovely birds. h
Thanks for the links! Why are not the Bee-eaters afflicted by milkweed toxins?
I'm so proud of myself. I didn't recognize the bird, but I did identify the butterfly.