Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} in flight, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} with food at nest hole, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} on wire with large insect in beak, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} pair, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} in flight with insect in beak, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} sunning, Sohar, Oman

Tony Heald / Whitefronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) on elephant dung, Chobe National Park, Botswana May 2008

Sharon Heald / White fronted Bee-eaters (Merops bullockoides) mobbing monitor lizard that is by their nest holes. Chobe, Botswana, May 2008.

Tony Heald / Whitefronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides), Chobe National Park, Botswana May 2008

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) preening and stretching on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) perched on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) perched close together on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater (Merops apiaster) on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) on branch in meadow. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) on branch, with another coming in to land behind. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater (Merops apiaster) on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater (Merops apiaster) on branch with bee in beak. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater (Merops apiaster) on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) in dispute on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eaters (Merops apiaster) in dispute on branch. Seville, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater (Merops apiaster) on branch. Seville, Spain

Michel Poinsignon / European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) flying to nest hole with insect prey, Lorraine, France

Michel Poinsignon / European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) perching on branch, Lorraine, France

Michel Poinsignon / European Bee Eater (Merops apiaster) flying to nest hole with insect prey, Lorraine, France

Michel Poinsignon / European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) flying to nest hole with insect prey, Lorraine, France

Dietmar Nill / Two European Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) on branch, Bulgaria

Bruno D'Amicis / European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) head portrait, Italy

Bruno D'Amicis / European Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) tail detail, Italy

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} perching on branch and calling, Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} perching on branch and calling, Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain

Fabio Liverani / Camera hide for photographing Bee-eaters, Umbria, Italy

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} flying to nest with prey. Alicante, Spain

Bernard Castelein / Little green bee-eater {Merops orientalis} Madhav NP, Madhya Pradesh, India

Bernard Castelein / Little green bee-eater {Merops orientalis} Madhav NP, Madhya Pradesh, India

Jose B. Ruiz / Two European bee eaters {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, April

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} perching by nest hole, Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, April

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, April

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, April

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, April

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, April

Jose B. Ruiz / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} next to nest hole, Los Barruecos NP, Malpartida de Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, April

Steven David Miller / Rainbow / Australian bee-eater {Merops ornatus} perching on tree branch, Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia

David Cottridge / Little green bee eater (Merops orientalis) Israel

Jose B. Ruiz / European Bee eater at nest (Meopidae apiaster) Albacete, Spain

Kerstin Hinze / Pair of European Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) sitting on a branch in a cornfield, Bulgaria

TJ Rich / Carmine Bee-eaters at nesting colony {Merops nubicus} South Luangwa NP, Zambia

TJ Rich / Carmine Bee-eaters at nesting colony {Merops nubicus} South Luangwa NP, Zambia

TJ Rich / Carmine Bee-eaters at nesting colony {Merops nubicus} South Luangwa NP, Zambia

TJ Rich / Carmine Bee-eaters at nesting colony {Merops nubicus} South Luangwa NP, Zambia

Hermann Brehm / Little bee-eater (Merops pusillus) perched on branch, East Africa

David Cottridge / Little green bee-eater (Merops orientalis) perched on branch, Israel

Pete Oxford / Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) raiding Carmine Bee-eater nests in rock face, Botswana

Bengt Lundberg / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} on sand bank, La Mancha, Spain

David Cottridge / European bee eater with bee prey {Merops apiaster} Spain

Steven David Miller / Rainbow bee-eater {Merops ornatus} Kununurra, Western Australia

Mike Wilkes / White fronted bee-eater {Merops bullockoides} perched on cable, Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Nigel Bean / Little bee-eater {Merops pusillus} Douala, Cameroon

Mary McDonald / Somali bee eater {Merops revoilii} Samburu GR, Kenya

Jean E. Roche / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} with dragonfly prey, Camargue, France

George McCarthy / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops superciliosus} perched on wire, Lesvos, Greece

George McCarthy / Balkan green lizard {Lacerta trilineata} coming out of Bee eaters nest in sand bank, Lesvos, Greece

Jean E. Roche / European bee eater {Merops apiaster} emerging from nest hole, France

Bengt Lundberg / Little green bee-eater {Merops orientalis} Thailand

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue-cheeked Bee-eater {Merops superciliosus} calling on branch, Sohar, Oman.

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Two European bee eaters {Merops apiaster} perchin on rock, Sohar, Oman.

Dave Watts / Two Rainbow bee-eaters {Merops ornatus} open country of mainland Australia

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} wing stretching, Hafeet, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} sunning, Abu Baqra, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus}, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} pair, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater flying {Merops persicus}, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus}, pair at nest hole, Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} pair sunning, Hafeet, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater flying {Merops persicus} Sohar, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus}, with grasshopper prey, Hafeet, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} pair perched, Hafeet, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} pair mating, Hafeet, Oman

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops persicus} pair displaying, Hafeet, Oman

David Kjaer / European bee eater at nest hole in sand bank(Merops apiaster) Lesbos, Greece

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater calling {Merops superciliosus} Hafeet, Oman, Middle East

Richard Du Toit / Carmine bee eater {Merops nubicus} flying, Chobe NP, Botswana.

Pete Oxford / White fronted bee-eater {Merops bullockoides} perching on branch with insect in beak, Okavango Delta, Botswana, Africa.

Pete Oxford / White fronted bee eater {Merops bullockoides} perching in tree, Okavango Delta, Botswana.

Pete Oxford / White fronted bee-eater {Merops bullockoides} on branch with beak open, Okavango Delta, Botswana, Africa.

Peter Blackwell / White throated bee eater {Merops albicollis} Samburu NR, Kenya

Jose B. Ruiz / European Bee Eater (Merops apiaster) with insect on perch. Spain

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Blue cheeked bee eater with prey {Merops superciliosus} Muscat, Oman

David Cottridge / Little green bee eaters mating {Merops orientalis} Israel

George McCarthy / Blue cheeked bee eater {Merops superciliosus} Lesbos, Greece

David Cottridge / Little green bee eater {Merops orientalis} male feeding female in courtship, Israel