Blue-tailed Bee-eater manipulating a dragonfly
Posted by BESG on 29 November 08, Saturday
Contributed by Johnny Wee
One of bee-eaters’ favourite food, or at least what we perceive as its favourite, is dragonflies. This is because photographers love to document these birds in the act of manipulating a dragonfly prior to swallowing it after its successful aerial chase.
The series of images by Johnny Wee, shows a Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus ) in the process of swallowing a dragonfly after it was properly thrashed against the perch. The bird expertly flipped the insect into the air. With its mandibles opened wide, the bird caught the dragonfly as it fell head-first into the bird’s throat. Once caught between the mandibles, the dragonfly was then immediately swallowed.
The series were photographed at Sungei Balang, Johor, Malaysia on 1st November 2008.
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Categories: Bee-eaters, Feeding strategy, Feeding-invertebrates
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Made Saturday, 29 of November , 2008 at 12:56 am
[...] The bird expertly flipped the insect into the air . With its mandibles opened wide, the bird caught the dragonfly as it fell head-first into the bird’s throat More [...]
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Made Saturday, 29 of November , 2008 at 5:41 am
[...] The rest is here [...]
Comment by Amber Coakley
Made Wednesday, 3 of December , 2008 at 8:06 pm
These are great! Not only a great illustration of behavior, but a beautiful bird too!
