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.
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.
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 |
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