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Bee-eater eating bee

In response to James' thread about bee-eater eating bees in HK, I have retrieved some old photos taken on 12 May 2013 at Mai Po below:

While it's frequently difficult to see what prey they are taking, one can often infer that it is bees/wasps (the name is "Guepier", wasp-catcher, in French in fact) from the way they land, 'juggle' with it in their bills, and then hit it against a branch to remove the sting.

I think this is rather frequently observed in fact, and they can also at appropriate times be seen feeding over flowering crops, such as rape, which is clearly attracting bees/wasps.

And in response to the second request, here's a Japanese White-eye impaled by a Brown Shrike.

[img]http://www.geoffwelch46.com/JAPWE21.jpg[/img]

Not a pretty site.
But at least the Red-backed managed to kill of one of those deadly centipedes. The less of those in HK the better.

Close-up view showing the prey (bee)

[quote]Original posted by [i]tmichael[/i] at 5/10/2013 15:24 [url=http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/redirect.php?goto=findpost&pid=59708&ptid=19636][img]http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/images/common/back.gif[/img][/url]
While it's frequently difficult to see what prey they are taking, one can often infer that it is bees/wasps (the name is "Guepier", wasp-catcher, in French in fact) from the way they land, 'juggle' wi ... [/quote]

Two more photos, cropped to show close-up view of the prey.
The sting of the bee can be seen on one.
On that day (12 May 2013), I saw two blue-tailed bee eaters caught several bees (and bees only).  The bird typically smashed the bee against tree branch to remove the sting before eating.

[[i] Last edited by irsychan at 5/10/2013 21:05 [/i]]

Thanks for sharing those great pics. Nice to know local shrikes are just as gruesome as their buddies. I would like to see the behaviour in the flesh (so to speak) one day. Apparently Australian Butcherbirds also impale prey for later (hence the name), but I have never seen them do that either.

Thanks for sharing those great pics. Nice to know local shrikes are just as gruesome as their buddies. I would like to see the behaviour in the flesh (so to speak) one day. Apparently Australian Butcherbirds also impale prey for later (hence the name), but I have never seen them do that either.