NORTHERN CARMINE
BEE-EATERS (2004)
Acrylic on
clayboard 11" x 14"
| Of
the 43 species of lovely, graceful bee-eaters that range across
the Old World, the largest and most colorful is the African Carmine
Bee-Eater (Merops nubicus). Less specialized for catching
bees than most of its tribe, the Carmine is more likely to follow
large mammals or brush fires to hawk the locusts they stir up.
This species is also the most gregarious of the bee-eaters, nesting
in spectacular colonies that can contain as many as 10,000 birds. |
|