European bee-eater

It is one of the most colourful birds in Europe, with a yellow throat, turquoise breast and rust-coloured back. It flies in groups, circling, with a soft, trilling call that can be heard in the sky before we see it.

As its name suggests, it hunts bees, wasps and other insects in mid-flight, thumping them against a branch before swallowing them. It is a migratory bird — it spends the summer here, breeding in tunnels it digs in earthen ravines — and heads for Africa at the end of summer.