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Rainbow Bee-eater
Rainbow Bee-eater
'Bee-eaters' are small, fast, thin-beaked and often beautifully colourful birds found in Africa, Asia and Australia. Their common name is due to the fact that they swoop after insects such as wasps and bees, and actually removing the sting before gobbling them up. The only species regularly seen in Australia is the 'Rainbow Bee-eater', a gorgeous bird of green, blue, rufous, and cream with black eye streaks and two small tail shafts. They head down south to breed in the summer, and are thus more common in the tropical north in the dry season when they can be seen in various open areas often perched on dead trees or wires.
 
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