Tavira Bee-eaters

We're lucky to have a colony of European Bee-eaters just a five minute drive away. They're busy excavating nest holes at the moment and we're looking forward to watching their progress over the coming weeks.


They really are such beautiful birds that it's hard to imagine that they are persecuted and treated as pests in so many places, including Portugal. Maybe we would take a different view if we kept bees!

Of course, they eat much more than just bees but their diet does consist mostly of flying insects of one sort or another. We did see one this week, however, that was feeding on the ground, apparently taking ants.