(Merops ornatus)
It’s called the Rainbowbird because
It has many colors!
QuestionWhat does it eat?
The Rainbowbird has caught an insect and is taking it
into its nest.
Question
Where is the nest?
It’s nest is under the ground. It digs a new burrow
every year.
Look more closely.
It’s not so big.
That’s a 500 Won. So, Rainbowbirds are small.
Question
How big are the nests -- inside?
They are 1 metre long and 0.5 metres deep.
The nest is a chamber at the end of the burrow.
Question
Do the have a favourite food?
Yes. They eat Bees!
(94% of their diet is Bees)
The Rainbowbird
It's really cute and interesting. OH! It comes from Australia.
I will publish a paper on Rainbowbirds soon.
Abstract
Rainbowbirds nest in burrows where they accumulate arthropod remains, in their nest chambers, throughout the breeding season. We report on the nest remains of seven nest chambers, from Dryandra in south-western Australia. Honeybees Apis Mellifera were the most frequent prey taken by Rainbowbirds accounting for 94% of the total nest remains by number. The dominance of Honeybees in the nest remains indicates that the bees are both present in this large reserve and that they are the preferred prey of Rainbowbirds, at this site, during the Rainbowbirds breeding season. We also found that the quantity of arthropod remains in nest chambers positively correlated with the duration of monitoring, which supported observations that some of the nests?initiation dates were late in the season.
