Abstract
Bee-eaters (Family - Meropidae) are
imported quite frequently into Europe. The African species of bee-eaters are the
most commonly offered. Private
aviculturists rarely acquire and breed
the bee-eaters because this group of
birds have a reputation as being "difficult"
to keep and reproduce. I feel that
bee-eaters are as easy to keep as many
other softbills when the following
points are taken into account.
Diet
Bee-eaters are insectivorous and it is
difficult to feed them a diet other than
live food. The species I have been
involved with were fed mealworms
and crickets in large volume. They
were also given a mixture of insectfood
and then strips of beef which
were occasionally eaten by accident.
Other food items given to these birds
were spiders, wax-moths, grasshoppers,
flies and, of course, bees.
Housing
Bee-eaters are tropical birds and
must be kept in heated enclosures
during the winter in very cold elimated
areas.
Nesting Habits
Like motmots and many kingfishers,
bee-eaters nest in earthen walls. If one
is planning to breed these birds, an
earthen or mud wall or bank must first
be constructed.
In Walsrode Birdpark in the northern
part of Germany, I was privileged
to care for several species of motmots.
These included the European (Merops
apiaster), White-throated (M. albicollis),
Little (M. pusillus), Cinnamonchested
(M. oreobates) and Black (M.
gularis) bee-eaters. Three of these
species made breeding attempts while
I was there.
The first was the European Beeeater.
It is the northern-most species
and its breeding grounds are mainly in
southern Europe. In the northern
countries like Germany and the
Netherlands, only a few successful
breedings are accomplished. At Walsrode
a colony of six birds was kept in
a large European free-flight aviary.
This exhibit also housed European
rollers, avocets and ruffs. We constructed
an artificial nesting wall especially
for the bee-eater. Although they
laid eggs, no successful breedings
took place. Because the wild population
of European Bee-eaters goes
south during the winter months, we
removed the captive colony from the
free-flight and housed them in heated
enclosures.
The Little Bee-eaters were also kept
in a colony of six birds. Being an African
species, they were housed in an
aviary in the Tropical Hall. This enclosure
measured 6m x 3m x 2.2m high
(19-1/2 ft X 10ft X 7-1/4 ft high). They
shared this enclosure with a pair of
Superb Sunbirds and a group of Kittlitz's
Sand Plovers. In the back of the
enclosure a 6m x 1m x 1.5m high (12ft
x 3-1/4 ft x 5 ft high) artificial wall was
constructed in which were placed several
nesting pipes. Two pairs of Little
Bee-eaters made use of these nests
but after about a week threw their
incubated eggs out of the nest. Therefore
success was not achieved.