Discover Europe's most colourful bird

July 21, 2010

The European bee-eater is undoubtedly one of the most colourful and spectacular birds in Europe. A summer migrant, the bee-eater returns each spring to breed in colonies dug out of sandy and muddy banks across southern Europe, feeding on bees, butterflies, dragonflies and other flying insects. Widespread in the Mediterranean, the bee-eater has also bred in recent years in Britain and Sweden, and is a regular "overshoot migrant" to northern Europe, causing much excitement in the birdwatching community.

Photographers Grzegorz Lesniewski, Dietmar Nill and Markus Varesvuo captured these striking images in Hungary, Bulgaria and the Crimea region of Ukraine, as part of the unique and ambitious Wild Wonders of Europe project. This is the largest nature photography project ever, documenting the most amazing wild places and wildlife across 48 European countries. The historic city of Prague will host the second World Premiere of the free Outdoor Photo Exhibition, "Wild Wonders of Europe" on 22 June. More than 10,000 superb images from the project are available from www.naturepl.com and we are privileged to be sole agent for Wild Wonders.

To find out more, check out the Wild Wonders gallery section of our site, where you can discover many more striking and spectacular creatures and explore the amazing biodiversity of our crowded continent. To order your copy of the Wild Wonders of Europe brochure, click here.

Best wishes,
The teams at NPL & Wild Wonders of Europe