European bee eater (Merops apiaster)

The European bee-eater is one of the more colourful of the twenty seven different species of bee-eaters found worldwide.Bee-eaters are insectivorous and as well as feeding off bees also take many other insects including wasps, dragon flies and locusts. They tend to catch their food on the wing by swooping down from above and grasping their prey in their strong slim bills which they then take back to their perch. Prior to consuming bees and wasps in particular the bee-eater strikes or rubs its prey against a branch in order to remove the insects sting before consumption. Podere Montecucco, Orvieto, Umbria, Italy