Courtship feeding of the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Posted by BESG on 20 November 09, Friday
Contributed by Wee Hiang Her

Wee Hiang Her’s study of the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti) was documented in Penang, Malaysia in early October 2009.

The image above shows the male (assuming it is the male) offering the female a butterfly he had caught earlier. This is a common courtship feeding ritual among bee-eaters and some other birds. There is another bee-eater perching nearby but there is no attempt at stealing the food.

Once the food is handed over to the female, he proceeds to court her further, hoping to complete the intended copulation (above). However, she is not interested in copulation just yet, wanting to eat the gift first. Thus she manipulates the food to eventually swallow it with a single gulp (below).

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

Related Posts:

Blue-throated Bee-eater: 1. Courtship and mating Micky Lim was observing four pairs of Blue-Throated Bee-Eater... Chestnut-headed Bee-eater: Prelude to breeding “The birds, I guess, were in the stage of... Courtship feeding of a Red-bearded Bee-eater Ashley Ng shared an image of a male Red-bearded... Chestnut-headed Bee-eater catching insects A pair of Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti) was documented... Coppersmith Barbet: Courtship and mating Dr Redzian Abdul Rahman from Raub, Malaysia, observed and... Feeding behaviour of the Blue-tailed Bee-eater “This pair of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters (Merops philippinus philippinus) was... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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Categories: Bee-eaters, Courtship-Mating

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