Rainbow Bee-eater

The Rainbow Bee-eater is one of Australia's most colorful birds, its plumage blending emerald green, turquoise blue, golden-chestnut, and black into an almost tropical palette. A black mask runs through the eye, bordered above by a thin blue line, while the throat is bright yellow shading into a chestnut band and then black across the upper breast.

The tail is tipped with elongated, wire-like central streamers that trail behind the bird in flight, most pronounced in adult males. Slim, pointed wings and a long, slightly downcurved black bill complete a build perfectly suited to catching flying insects on the wing.

Key field marks

• Rainbow-like mix of green, blue, chestnut, and black plumage
• Black eye mask bordered by a thin blue line above
• Yellow throat with a chestnut band and black breast crescent
• Long, wire-like central tail streamers (longer in males)
• Slim, pointed wings and long downcurved bill

Similar species

No other Australian bird shares this combination of colors and tail streamers, making the Rainbow Bee-eater essentially unmistakable within its range. In flight, its swept-back wing shape and acrobatic, swallow-like sallies after insects further aid identification.

Habitat

Rainbow Bee-eaters favor open country, including woodland edges, farmland, riverbanks, and sandy or cleared ground, which they need for excavating nesting burrows.

Range

The species breeds across most of mainland Australia, occurring in every state, and is absent mainly from the most densely forested and highest alpine areas.

Migration

Southern Australian populations are strongly migratory, moving north for the non-breeding season to northern Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia, while northern populations may be more sedentary.

Behavior

Rainbow Bee-eaters are highly aerial, sallying out from an exposed perch to snatch flying insects, then returning to the same perch to beat and rub the prey against the branch before swallowing it, a behavior that helps remove stingers from bees and wasps.

Voice

The call is a distinctive, rolling, liquid "prreep" or "terp-terp," often given in flight and audible well before the bird is seen.

Feeding

Diet consists almost entirely of flying insects, with honeybees and wasps forming a large part of the diet, along with dragonflies, flies, and other winged insects caught mid-air.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs, often assisted by helper birds, excavate a long tunnel nest in sandy banks, flat sandy ground, or road cuttings, ending in a nesting chamber. Clutches typically contain four to seven white eggs, incubated by both parents, with young fledging around a month after hatching.