The European bee-eater

Brown top, blue-green underside, black-necked yellow throat, wings and olive-green tail, one would believe the bee-eater escaped from an exotic aviary. He digs his nest in the embankments or canal banks where he lives in the colony. His name comes from his diet, composed of big insects: dragonflies, beetles and wasps that he can seize without being bitten by his long beak. Agile, he crushes his victims against his perch, ejecting the venomous sting, before offering it to his little ones.