Aust birds    Bird names   News   1-26    Habitats    Key plants    Glossary    Plumage    Nests    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Sponsors    Photos for sale   
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14 15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   W   Y  

14

Rainbow Bee-eaters building a nest

(Merops ornatus)
Alternate name(s): "Rainbow-bird", "Spinetail", "Pintail"; misnomer: "Kingfisher"
Aboriginal name(s): "birrubirruu" [yuwaalaraay]; "birinbirin", "beringo" (WA)
Size: 23-27 cm
Weight: 27 g (average)

Back to the Rainbow Bee-eater main page .

Always under the watchful eyes of its partner, a Rainbow Bee-eater digs a tunnel for a nesting hollow into sandy soil 20 km South of Narrabri, NSW.

Top to bottom:
Have a look around whether it is safe to dig
Check out what needs to be done
Start digging
At a later stage just throw the debris out of the tunnel

Frontal view of the construction site

At the end of the day rest together for a while