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Male leaves the female from the mating twig. After copulation, male departs to collect another 8-10 preys for the next mating. Bee-eaters use the same twig for the copulation during mating season.

Mating: male jumps on the femaleis back to copulate. After presenting 8-10 insects as a ìmating gifti, female lets male to copulate once. Dozens of matings can happen daily for 2 weeks.

Courtship feeding: male offers food for the female. During mating period, male feeds the female. Male must present 8-10 insects for the female, before she would let him to mate. However, if the prey is large like a dragonfly, mating might immediately…

Male bee-eater throws up a bug into the air beside female. Prey-throwing is part of the ìattraction of the femalei process. To show his hunting abilities, male is throwing up prey several times into the air before offering it to the female.

Male bee-eaters fighting mid-air. Males are really aggressive during mating period. They strongly defend their small territory around the nesting hole, especially from other males. It is because of the risk of the mating of foreign males with the…

Bee-eater couple on a blossoming bush. During the first 2 weeks after their arrival, the adult couple perches on the same twig so close, that they are even touching each other.

Bee-eater couple mid-air. Bee-eaters are arriving to Europe after a long journey from South Africa in May. The adult couple always arrives together and start to dig their nest into a vertical bank.

European Bee-eater carries a mid-air-caught butterfly to its nest. Bee-eaters feed mostly on stinged insects (bees, bumblebees, hornets), but able to catch any flying insects between 5-50mm length in bodysize. Story caption: European Bee-eater…

Moonlight illuminates the cacti of Isla Incahuasi after summer rains have flooded the Salar de Uyuni to a depth of 7 inches. The island is famous for its forest of 'cactus corales temperatura', an endemic specie that favors volcanic soil overlain…

A blue sky at sunrise colors the reflections in Sol de Manana, a fumarole field located at 16,000 ft.) along the crest of the Andes near the Chilean border. This is a popular stop for tourists who come at sunrise (aprox 10 cars of 6 passengers each)…