Rainbow Bee-eater
Merops ornatus
female - Wyperfeld National Park, Australia - October 2010
Rainbow Bee-eaters are highly migratory, spending the Austral winter (March - October) in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. The first migrants arrive back in their southern Australian breeding grounds in September but the majority don't arrive until October.
male - Wyperfeld National Park, Australia - October 2010
The breeding season in southern Australia is between November and January, whereas those that remain in northern Australia breed either side of the long wet season which lasts from November - April.
male - Wyperfeld National Park, Australia - October 2010
Unlike most Bee-eaters where males and females are virtually identical, it is easy to differentiate the sexes in Rainbow Bee-eater. Females have much shorter, but broader, central tail streamers than the male.
 female |
 male |
Wyperfeld National Park, Australia - October 2010
males - Wyperfeld National Park, Australia - October 2010
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