Merops apiaster
The European Bee-eater is mainly a summer visitor to southern Africa from its breeding grounds in Asia, Europe and Africa’s Mediterranean coast. While visiting in our summer, the European Bee-eater can be found over most of South Africa, being strangely absent from most of Kwazulu Natal and the Eastern Cape though. Their melodious calls are certainly part of the summer soundtrack here in Pretoria. Interestingly there is a breeding population of a few thousand of these birds in our Western Cape Province that appears to migrate only as far as equatorial Africa during our winter months. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern, estimating a population of at least 14-million for the species, of which the vast majority is found in Africa south of the Zambezi during the austral summer.
European Bee-eaters inhabit a variety of habitats, ranging from shrubland to woodland, though it appears they avoid both the driests and wettest extremes. As both its common and Latin names suggest, it feeds primarily on bees and wasps and other flying insects. They’re social birds and almost always encountered in sizable flocks.
Most European Bee-eaters arrive here from about October and depart again by April. These slender, colourful birds nest in tunnels they excavate into sandbanks, usually as small colonies. Pairs are monogamous and incubate clutches of 2-8 eggs. The eggs hatch after 3-4 weeks and the chicks fledge when they’re about a month old.
DeWetsWild 
They are so beautiful! I love birds. You’ve captured them beautifully! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you very much for the kind compliment!
Sjoe! Dis sulke mooi kleurvolle voels!
Regtig so mooi, Aletta, en dan nog sulke akrobatiese vlieers daarby.
Dis seker pragtig om dit te aanskou!
The colors in their plumage look so pretty! The eye mask tops it off well.
They’re especially beautiful when the light catches that metallic sheen in their feathers.
What is there not to like about these birds – you have caught them in a variety of settings. My last sighting of one was in the Pilanesberg a week before the great pandemic reared its menacing head in this country.
Hard to believe that is almost two years ago, Anne!
They’re beautiful, although eating bees. 😦
It’s a pity that we’re endangering their favourite meal!
Sjoe, sulke mooi kleurvolle voeltjies! Ek wonder altyd hoe hulle die bye geeet kry sonder dat die skerp angels hulle pla 🤔. Pragtige foto’s!
Baie dankie! Terwyl julle nou so die land oorkruis moet julle uitkyk vir hulle. Jy sal sien, wanneer hulle n by of perdeby vang, gaan sit hulle op n takkie en vee die prooi heen-en-weer daaroor totdat die angel uit is.
Genugtig! So, hulle is nie net mooi kleurvol nie, maar ook slim!
Dis ook maar n getrekkery vir sulke voeltjies. Wys jou hoe die natuur se invloed is op hulle. Interessante stuk en mooi fotos.
Dis verstommend wat sulke klein diertjies so maklik kan regkry!
Beslis ek verwonder my aan die trekkery van wilde eende/ganse/swane ook.
What beautiful birds. Their colors are marvelous . Thank you for introducing me to them.
The pleasure is ours, Anne!
What little beauties these are!
Winged jewels, Lois.
Perfect description, Dries!
They are beautiful birds, and it’s great that their numbers remain strong.
Ah, it’s good to take a side trip to your side of the southern hemisphere, even though I’m barely south of the equator.
Will be catching up soon!
Always nice to have you visit, Lisa!