Bee-eaters in Britain

Two species of bee-eater have occurred as wild visitors to Britain, with a third having occurred as an escape from captivity.

European Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

The European Bee-eater occurs in Britain mainly as a spring overshoot. Until the late 20th Century the species was a national rarity i.e. a species whose records are collected by the British Birds Rarities Committee. Increasing numbers meant that it was downgraded to a scarce migrant from 1991. Bee-eaters are occasionally seen in Britain in autumn, but are much scarcer at that season. The species has occasionally bred.

Migrant status

Breeding attempts

European Bee-eater has attempted to nest on five occasions in Britain:

• In 1920, a pair made a nesting attempt in a sand bank of the River Esk at Musselburgh, Scotland. A local gardener captured the female, keeping her in a greenhouse, and she died two days later, after laying a single egg.

• In 1955, three pairs of Bee-eaters nested in Streat sand quarry near Plumpton, Sussex. The birds were first found on 12 June, although the birds' presence only became widely known at the start of August. One nest was accidentally destroyed by machinery in July, but seven young fledged from the two remaining nests towards the end of August. An RSPB wardening operation was instigated , and in total over 1,000 people visited the site. The birds remained until 24 Septembet.

• A pair nested at Bishop Middleham Quarry, County Durham in 2002. The birds were first found on 2 June, and within a few days started to undertake courtship feeding and copulation; five chicks hatched although one died in the nest, one died before fledging and the third disappeared and was also believed to have died. Durham Wildlife Trust (with RSPB assistance) set up a wardening post here during the period while the birds were nesting. News was released to the rare bird information services and the national news media also reported on the birds' presence. In total, some 15,000 people visited the site during their stay; the adults and both the fledged young were watched to leave on 28 August, when they flew off high to the south.

• A pair took up residence on farmland adjacent to the River Wye, near Hampton Bishop, Herefordshire in summer 2005; by mid-July the adults were bringing insect food to the riverbank nest-hole confirming that eggs had hatched. A wardening operation was set up by the RSPB, with public access granted, resulting in c. 2,000 people seeing the birds. However, on the evening of 29 July, foxes predated the nest, and the birds soon left the site.

• A pair excavated a nest hole at a coastal site in Dorset in 2006, but this attempt failed (Birdwatch no. 173 p.23).

Fiction

• The third series of the sitcom To The Manor Born featured an episode, first aired on 11 August 1981, in which Bee-eaters bred at a fictional location in England [1].

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

One other species of bee-eater is recorded from Britain, the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. This species has been recorded eight times; all individuals were adults, and but one occurred in mid-summer:

• St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, 13 July 1921 (this bird was killed and the specimen is in the Isles of Scilly Museum)
• St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, 22 June 1951
• Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, 17 September 1952
• The Otter valley, Budleigh Salterton, Devon, from 30 June to 2 July 1987
• Kennack Sands and Cadgwith, The Lizard, Cornwall, 1 June 1989
• Cowden, East Yorkshire, from 8 to 10 July 1989 (also seen at Leverton Marsh, Lincolnshire on 12 July
• Church Hougham, Kent on 18 July 1989
• Bressay, Asta, Tingwall valley and Lerwick, Shetland from 20 June to 3 July 1997

Escaped species

White-fronted Bee-eater has occurred as an escape from captivity [2].

References

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater records were taken from:

• Dymond, J. N., P. A. Fraser and S. J. M. Gantlett (1989) Rare Birds in Britain and Ireland T. & A. D. Poyser
• Evans, Lee G. R. (1994) Rare Birds in Britain 1800-1990
• Osborn, Kevin (1997) The Blue-cheeked Bee-eater in Shetland Birding World 10(6): 220-221
• Rogers, M. J. and the Rarities Committee (1998) Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 1997 British Birds 91(11): 455-517

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