Bee-eaters in Spain

The European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is one of the most visually striking birds in the western Palearctic. It's also reliably findable in Valencia from mid-April through August, which makes it a consistent highlight for visiting birders — particularly those from the UK and North America, where the species doesn't breed.

Bee-eaters are colonial nesters, excavating burrows in sandy or soft earthen banks, and a good colony in active use is one of the more memorable wildlife experiences the Mediterranean has to offer: 50 or 100 birds in the air simultaneously, calling constantly, performing aerial food passes, and returning to the bank in loose, gliding streams.

Arrival and departure

In Valencia, the first birds typically appear in the second or third week of April — usually heard before they're seen, the call a liquid rolling prruip given constantly in flight. Numbers build through late April as the main body of birds arrives from Africa, and by early May most colonies are established.

Breeding activity peaks in June and July. The young fledge in late July and early August, and the colony begins to break up shortly afterwards. By mid-August most birds have left the breeding sites, and by early September the region is largely empty of Bee-eaters.

Where to find them in Valencia

Bee-eaters nest wherever suitable soft banks exist near open foraging habitat. In Valencia, this means:

• River terraces and barranco edges — the eroded banks of seasonal river valleys and ravines (barrancos) throughout the interior are the primary nesting habitat. The Turia, Magre and Cabriel valleys all hold colonies.
• Agricultural areas — road cuttings through soft soils, spoil heaps and earthen field boundaries in farming areas around Requena, Utiel and the Meseta Valencia.
• Rice field surroundings — birds foraging over the rice paddies of the Albufera area are a regular sight in May and June. They feed over the open fields and return to nesting banks several kilometres away.

Watching a colony

The best approach is to locate a colony before the breeding season begins — early May, when the birds are excavating burrows — and then return regularly as the season progresses. Active colonies attract the same pairs year after year, provided the bank remains intact.

For photography, a position at roughly the same height as the nesting bank, 15–20 metres away, gives good angles as birds approach and leave the burrows. The light is best in the first two hours of the morning when the bank faces east or southeast, or in the evening for west-facing colonies.

During the middle of the day in June and July, colonies can appear quiet — many birds are inside the burrows or foraging at a distance. The most active periods are early morning and the last two hours before dusk, when food deliveries to the burrow increase.

What they eat and how they hunt

The name is slightly misleading — Bee-eaters take a wide range of flying insects, not only bees and wasps. Dragonflies, beetles, butterflies and other large insects are all taken. They hunt from a perch or in direct aerial pursuit, returning to a perch to beat the prey and swallow it. Watching this behaviour up close, particularly when a bird beats a bee against a wire to remove the sting, is worth waiting for.

Associated species at colony sites

Good Bee-eater habitat in Valencia typically also holds Roller (Coracias garrulus), which nests in tree holes in open woodland near the colonies, and Hoopoe in gardens and orchards. Red-rumped Swallow often nests under bridges and culverts near the same river banks.