Jason Cho a.k.a jcho photographed a Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops viridis) in the act of casting a pellet. The pellet is made up of undigested insect exoskeleton compacted in the gizzard and regurgitated some time after feeding.
An earlier post describe pellet casting by a Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus).
A copy of the publication, “Pellet casting by non-raptorial birds of Singapore” can be downloaded HERE
This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.
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[…] (Merops viridis) catch dragonflies on the wing… Mail (will not be published) (required) …Bird Ecology Study Group Blue-throated Bee-eater casting pelletJason Cho a.k.a jcho photographed a Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops viridis) in the act … […]
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[…] It is well known that raptors and owls regularly cast pellets. But what is not well known is that many non-raptorial birds similarly cast pellets LINK. Besides kingfisher, another common bird casting pellets is bee-eater LINK. […]
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[…] Our earliest post on pellet casting was in April 2006 when a Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) was caught in the act of casting a pellet LINK. Another account of a Blue-throated Bee-eater casting pellet can be viewed HERE. […]