What is a bee eater?

The Merops ornatus or the Rainbow Bee-Eater can grow up to six in half to thirteen in a half inches long. The can weigh up to a half to three ounces. Their feathers are normally green above the neck and on the neck and buff brown yellow below. Males are brighter than females, but females have longer tail ends or streamers. They each have long, curved black beak. They also have red eyes.

Rainbow Bee-eaters are carnivores. After they catch their venomous snack it returns to its perch and removes the stinger and venom before they swallow it whole. Beekeepers are the main predators of the Rainbow Bee-eater. Beekeepers kill or injury the Rainbow Bee-eater when the get near the bees. Their normal behavior for migrating to the north is when they migrate in large flocks. They are not nocturnal.

They normally lay four to five eggs each breeding season. Their breeding season is to November to January in the southern part. The months in the north are from August to January. The incubation lasts twenty- five days and another twenty- eight days in the nest.

They are normally are found in Australia except Tasmania. It is also found in open forests, woodlands and shrub lands, and cleared areas, usually near water. It will use sites such as quarries, cuttings and mines to build its nesting tunnels.

(P.s. - they are birds...)