THERE are 10 species of Bee-eater in Southern Africa, including the small but beautiful Little Bee-eater, which is the only one to be found in the Highway area, and even then, you will be hard-pressed and lucky to spot it!
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Description
The Little Bee-eater weighs in at only 15g and a length of 16cm. It is mostly bright grass-green with a distinctive canary-yellow throat separated from buff underparts by a black line across the throat. Males and females are identical in appearance.
Distribution
This species is found in many parts of Africa, but in South Africa, it is restricted to the lusher well-watered eastern parts of the country from the Pondoland coast to Mozambique and across towards the western parts of the country, including most of Gauteng, Limpopo and North-West Province. It is absent from the Western Cape and all the drier parts of the country.
Habitat
The Little Bee-eater has quite a large habitat range including both moist and dry savanna, lake shores, riverbanks, and even forested areas. They are most often spotted in pairs, but it is not uncommon to see small family groups on occasions.
Feeding
As the name suggests, they feed almost exclusively on insects with a high preference for bees and wasps. They are busy hunters, often perching on low branches and darting at frequent intervals for flying insects and then returning to the same small branch.
Breeding
The Little Bee-eater is a monogamous species, and the pair stays together all year round. They tend to nest on their own. Nests are dug into high, sandy banks along riverbanks, ditches and even ploughed furrows. The excavation is quite an arduous task for such a small bird, and both the male and female apply themselves to the task. Digging is done with both their beaks and feet. The tunnels can be up to 1.3m long with a 10cm chamber at the end. Two to six eggs are laid between August and February, and the incubation duties are shared by both adults.
Predators and threats
The Little Bee-eater is not considered under any specific threat, but it is preyed upon by raptors and even storks.
Local information
This species is not common in the Highway area, so it is a highlight to spot it. Look for it near forest edges or bush thickets. Good areas are the Nkutu section of Krantzkloof Nature Reserve and Lower Molweni.
Interesting facts
The Little Bee-eater is the smallest bee-eater in the world! As with all bee-eaters, they are very aware of the potential for a sting, so they carry the stinging insect back to the perch where they rub the tail end of the insect against the perch until the sting and venom are removed.
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