beeeater on branch

The bee-eater is a long distance migratory bird which travels from the tropics to Europe during the warmer months. As it is suggested by its name, the bee-eater is specialised in foraging on big flying insects, e.g bumblebees, wasps, dragonflies as well as butterflies and large beetles. To be able to create breeding burrows, the bee-eater is dependent on scarp slopes made up of soft ground material.

Bee-eaters are often referred to as winners of climate change, as their distribution range has widened into the North of Europe during the last decades, presumably being due to increasing summer temperatures and decreasing rainfall. I created this drawing after a visit to the breeding grounds of bee-eaters in the region of Lake Neusiedl in Austria.

Dimensions & medium:
Medium: Faber Castell polychromos
Paper: Clairefontaine Paint On Mix Media
Size: A4 (8.3 in x 11.7 in)