Quick Answer
Some birds do eat honeybees, though most birds tend to avoid them. The birds that are known to eat honeybees include bee-eaters, shrikes, and hummingbirds. These birds have adapted strategies to handle the sting of bees, such as removing the stinger before swallowing them. However, honeybees make up a small portion of their overall diet. Other common food sources for these birds include insects, small reptiles, fruits, and nectar.
Birds That Eat Honeybees
Bee-eaters
Bee-eaters are a group of near-passerine birds in the Meropidae family. There are 26 species of bee-eaters found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. As their name suggests, bee-eaters regularly consume bees, including honeybees.
Some key facts about bee-eaters:
- They have long, pointed beaks adapted for catching insects in flight.
- Their diet consists mainly of flying insects, including bees, wasps, dragonflies, and butterflies.
- Bee-eaters generally catch insects by waiting on a perch and sallying out to catch them in mid-air.
- They remove a bee’s stinger before swallowing it.
- Honeybees may make up over 50% of their diet during beehive raiding.
- The European bee-eater is the most widespread species, found across Europe, Asia, and into northern Africa.
The European bee-eater is particularly prone to feeding on honeybees. This is likely because they chiefly inhabit open grasslands and fields where beehives are common. They regularly raid beehives by disturbing the entrance and picking off bees as they emerge.
Shrikes
Shrikes are predatory songbirds in the Laniidae family. There are over 30 species of shrikes in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Two shrike species in particular include honeybees in their broad diet – the red-backed shrike and the loggerhead shrike.
Key facts about shrikes that eat bees:
- They have sturdy, hooked beaks adapted for catching and tearing prey.
- They hunt from lookout perches, sighting and swooping down on prey.
- Their diet includes insects, small birds and mammals, lizards, and snails.
- Shrikes immobilize toxic prey like bees by impaling them on thorns or barbed wire before eating them.
- This allows them to remove the stinger before consuming the bee.
Shrikes help control bee populations in their habitats. However, they prefer a varied diet and bees do not make up a major portion.
Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds in the Trochilidae family are the smallest birds in the world. Their long slender beaks and tongues allow them to drink nectar from flowers. It may come as a surprise that these delicate nectar-feeders also occasionally eat insects, including bees.
Key facts about hummingbirds that consume bees:
- Their diet consists of 70-80% nectar and 20-30% insects and spiders.
- Preferred insect prey includes mosquitoes, fruit flies, gnats, aphids, and small bees.
- They swoop in and snatch small insects out of the air with their tapered beak.
- Their rapid metabolism requires they eat often to fuel their high energy hovering flight.
- Protein from insects helps meet their high metabolic needs.
- Common species known to eat bees include the ruby-throated hummingbird and the rufous hummingbird.
Hummingbirds supplements their nectar diet with protein from insects. But honeybees make up a very small portion compared to tiny gnats and mosquitos.
How Birds Eat Bees Safely
Birds face the same challenge humans do in consuming stinging insects like bees – avoiding being stung by the bee’s detached stinger and venom sac.
Bee-eaters, shrikes, and hummingbirds all have adaptations that allow them to prey on stinging bees safely:
Removing the Stinger
A key adaptation is removing the stinger before swallowing the bee. Bee-eaters catch bees mid-flight and remove the stinger by rubbing the bee on a branch. Shrikes impale the bee first, immobilizing it to safely pluck off the stinger. Hummingbirds may smash the bee first against a branch to discharge the stinger.
Tough, Pointed Beaks
Bee-eaters, shrikes, and hummingbirds all have narrow, pointed beak tips. These allow them to snatch up bees quickly with precision (bee-eaters), or impale them (shrikes). Their hard beaks are also resistant to bee stings.
Immunity to Bee Venom
Some species like European bee-eaters may have developed immunity or resistance to honeybee venom. This allows them to eat bees safely and raid beehives more freely.
Thick Feathers
Thick body feathers provide protection from potential stings. Shrikes in particular have thick feathers around the head and neck for impaling insect prey.
Do Birds Help Control Bee Populations?
Birds that eat bees like bee-eaters, shrikes, and hummingbirds may help regulate bee populations in the wild by feeding on them. However, their predation likely does not significantly affect overall bee numbers for a few reasons:
- Bees make up a small percentage of their varied insect diet.
- They generally avoid heavily populated hives and nests.
- Most bee species (including honeybees) live in large, defensive colonies that deter predation.
- Other insect prey like flies, moths, and butterflies are easier to catch and consume safely.
While certain birds will opportunistically eat bees when they can, they prefer a diverse diet. Their consumption of bees has minimal impact compared to habitat loss, disease, and parasites as factors in bee population declines. Maintaining natural habitats with nesting sites is more important for their conservation.
Risks of Bee Predation to Birds
While some birds can feast on bees safely, bee stings also pose risks to bird health in certain cases:
- Less adapted species can succumb to anaphylactic shock or organ failure.
- Smaller birds are at higher risk of injury as they lack protective bulk.
- Nestlings and fledglings may become overwhelmed by swarming bees.
- Eye stings can lead to permanent blindness which reduces survival.
- Beak or tongue swelling from stings can prevent feeding leading to starvation.
Birds that rely more on camouflage versus speed or size are less likely to prey on bees. Overall, most species gain little reward for the risks bees pose. Leaving them to specialists lets most birds coexist safely with bees.
Conclusion
While bees are a natural prey source, birds that specifically consume them regularly are limited. Most birds either cannot safely handle bees or they offer relatively low nutrition compared to other insects. But bees do provide an important source of protein, fat, and nutrients for certain adapted species like bee-eaters, shrikes, and hummingbirds. These birds have evolved immunity, beak shape, and nesting behaviors to feast on bees with minimal risk of stings. Their predation has little effect on overall bee populations. In fact, some beekeepers view them as helpful for removing pests. Allowing birds that eat bees to flourish ensures balanced, functioning ecosystems.
Bird | Adaptations for Eating Bees | % of Diet from Bees |
---|---|---|
Bee-eater | Pointed beak, removes stinger, possible venom immunity | 50% or more when raiding hives |
Shrike | Impales bees to remove stinger, thick feathers | 5-10% |
Hummingbird | Small agile size, smash bees before eating | 5-10% |