By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t blink, or you will miss it.<\/p>\n
The delightful looking bird also comes with a new local title, named by Moorabool Shire Council as their \u2018Critter of the Month\u2019. It spends the warm months here in Victoria, including within the Shire.<\/p>\n
Local wildlife and bird photographer David Whelan, said the rainbow bee-eater was more common than people might realise, but had proven a tricky bird to snap photos of.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just amazing to see\u2026unless you\u2019re a dedicated birdwatcher or you live on the land and you\u2019ve seen them, you probably wouldn\u2019t know they\u2019re around here,\u201d he told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
The beautiful bird is Australia\u2019s only member of the bee-eater family \u2013 most bee-eaters live in Africa and Asia \u2013 and spends winter up in Queensland enjoying the warmer weather.<\/p>\n
As the name suggests, it has striking, colourful plumage, with shades of green, blue, and yellow blending together.<\/p>\n
Mr Whelan said he\u2019s seen them every year pretty much since 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can be hard to spot, but if you see them up close, you\u2019re not going to miss them because they\u2019re so colourful. Their reaction time is really quick, they launch from their perches so fast, so they\u2019re very hard to anticipate when you\u2019re photographing them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the most resplendent birds, absolutely beautiful. They make a very distinctive sort of \u2018zimming\u2019 noise\u2026it sounds like someone\u2019s running their fingers along a comb. They nest in sandy riverbanks and build tunnels in the spring, then migrate north in mid to late-February.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rainbow bee-eater can be spotted in Moorabool from October until February, and is usually seen along waterways such as the Lerderderg River and Parwan Creek.<\/p>\n
It feeds on insects, including bees as the name suggests, as well as wasps, dragonflies, beetles, butterflies, and moths. It catches the insect mid-flight and brings it back to a perch to hit it against it, before swallowing it.<\/p>\n
For more information on the rainbow bee-eater, visit www.birdlife.org.au\/bird-profile\/rainbow-bee-eater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis Don\u2019t blink, or you will miss it. The delightful looking bird also comes with a new local title, named by Moorabool Shire Council as their \u2018Critter of the Month\u2019. It spends the warm months here in Victoria, including within the Shire. Local wildlife and bird photographer David Whelan, said the rainbow bee-eater […]<\/p>\n