Rarities & conservation: first bee-eater to fledge in UK for 7 years takes flight - watch live on our feed

17 August 2022 
By Dave Rowntree
Picture

Bee-eater chick prepares to fledge; Credit: RSPB

The first European bee-eater chick to fledge in the UK for seven years has taken its maiden flight at a Norfolk quarry. The last confirmed fledging was in 2015 when a single chick was successfully raised at a quarry near Bampton, Cumbria.​

Like rainbow clad rock stars, bee-eaters know how to get a crowd buzzing. Sightings of these colourful characters are increasing in the UK and this year eight birds took up residence near Trimingham, North Norfolk in early June and soon began excavating nest burrows.
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The first chick fledged just before 9am on Tuesday morning with its flight captured by the RSPB’s live camera feed.
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A second chick is expected to fledge any day. There are believed to be four chicks in total across two nests in the quarry. All are expected to fledge in the next few days, with the rest of the group leaving to start their journey to Africa within the next two weeks.

Having previously been rare visitors, breeding attempts by these brightly-coloured birds are increasing in the UK, with six recorded in the past 20 years.

Bee-eaters normally nest in southern Europe and northern Africa, and the expansion of their northern range is a warning that rising temperatures, due to climate change, will become the norm without urgent action.

About the size of a starling, bee-eaters are unmistakable with their claret-red backs, yellow throats and turquoise bellies. Bee-eaters raise their chicks communally, and single birds from a previous brood are likely to help out the two breeding pairs with duties like incubating and feeding. As well as various species of bee, they feed on dragonflies and other flying insects, which they catch in mid-air.
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