Some bird species that eat bees are specialists while others are opportunists. Welcome to the Birds and Bees ... why we have attained a Top Notch Award from the Scottish Licensed Trade Association and voted one of the Best Places to Eat in Central Scotland in the FX Tourism Awards. Woodpeckers can single in on a hive and enjoy the protein boost. The most obvious come from the "bee-eater" bird family, which mostly lives in tropical and subtropical regions of Eurasia, Africa and Australasia. Robber flies catch bees by their wings and are well known for catching bumblebees. At least 24 species of birds reportedly eat wasps and bees. The Birds and the Bees: Battling Bees at Hummingbird Feeders We’re pretty sure you already know all about the birds and the bees – at least in the form of “the talk” parents have with their kids as they reach that certain age. Read on….. I've seen Red-backed shrikes and Bee-eaters eat them, and have seen a Kestrel catch a bee and let it go again! Other birds who eat bees do so only on occasion, not as a main diet staple. They will eat carrion at all times and catch small mammals and birds.

They eat bees when it’s convenient but move on to other things such as berries, seeds, worms, or other insects as they become readily available. Kathy and Dave. The good news is that some butterflies are not very tasty to their predators such as the Monarch Butterfly. Birds That Eat Butterflies and/or Moths. The young honeyguides kill the bee-eater's chicks and destroy any eggs. A dunnock has to spend nearly all its time in winter feeding, just to survive the long, cold nights. A bumblebee usually has a stinger on its tail, which is what it uses to protect itself when it is in danger. It is not what people want to hear because butterflies are very beautiful creatures and who doesn’t like to see them in their own garden. Crab spiders wait on flowers for bees to come within reach. Bumblebees, solitary bees and honeybees all visit dandelions for food, along with hoverflies, beetles, and butterflies such as the peacock and holly blue. My Flickr!


Despite this, fairly few species of birds will eat bees as a regular part of their diet, due to bees having stingers and birds not wanting to be stung. Sparrows eat … The little bee-eater and red-throated bee-eaters are hosts of the greater honeyguide and the lesser honeyguide, both brood parasites. If you don't think there are enough seeds to keep a dunnock alive, just think where the weeds in your garden come from - all from seeds that dunnocks and other birds missed! When the bees get close enough they will catch them as soon as they land on the flowers. During the breeding season they will take eggs and young of other birds. Dunnocks mostly eat insects, but will eat nettle, grass and weed seeds in the winter. They may resort to eating this sugary secretions of aphids as a substitute for nectar, although it is believed to be not as nutritious for bees as nectar – this is why this behaviour is seen when there is a shortage of food from flowers.