Trivia question for Nov-12-2011

Carter is up today and he picked a colorful bird for his trivia.  Lets see how you do with this.  These birds are beautiful and have a social life that is similar to humans.  Family groups live together, help each other with domestic chores and visit friendly neighbors.

Their diet is made up primarily of one particular insect type, but they also take other flying insects depending on the season and availability of prey. Two hunting methods have been observed. They either make quick hawking flights from lower branches of shrubs and trees, or glide slowly down from their perch and hover briefly to catch insects. Colonies comprise socially monogamous, extended family groups with overlapping generations, known as “clans” which exhibit cooperative breeding. Non-breeding individuals become helpers to relatives and assist to raise their brood.

So here are Carter’s questions:  Tell us what these cool looking birds are how they got their name?  Also, tell us where they sometimes lay their eggs besides their nest?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to Sandra Sallee from Cairo, Georgia for being the first with the correct answer. The bright bird we featured is the White-Fronted Bee-Eater. The White-fronted Bee-eater is a species of bee-eater widely distributed in sub-equatorial Africa.

They have a distinctive white forehead, a square tail and a bright red patch on their throat. They nest in small colonies, digging holes in cliffs or earthen banks but can usually be seen in low trees waiting for passing insects.  They obviously get their name because of the fact that bees make up the majority of their diet.

The female occasionally lays her eggs in a neighbor’s nest if it is left unguarded.  Likewise, a parasitic bird, the greater honeyguide, lays its eggs in the next of a bee-eater.  In both cases, the nest’s rightful occupant then incubates and rears the ‘imposted’ chick.  Here is more on these cool birds: White-Fronted Bee-Eater

Thanks for playing along 😉