rainbow bee-eater
- Scientific Name
- Merops ornatus
- Category
- Birds
Bininj say that apart from themselves, there are two other animals that are attracted to native bee hives. One is Norne, a Bembix sp. wasp that preys on an-kung bodno 'Tetragonula spp. native bees' and the other is berrerd-berrerd the rainbow bee-eater who as the name suggests, feeds on insects such as native bees.
Nakka na-kukmakukmak None nawu. Berrerdberrerd warridj an-kung ba-nani.
That Bembix wasp is excellent [ie it knows where honey is]. The rainbow bee eater too looks out for honey hives.
If you click on the Kundedjnjenghmi audio link you can listen to the call of berrerd-berrerd and then Terah Guymala from Warddeken Land Management Ltd saying this:
Namekke mayh berrerd-berrerd narri-ngeybun. Nawu ka-karrme yiman kun-djakkorl ku-berd, berdno kore ku-rredjmud, ka-karrme kun-djakkorl, korroko.
This bird we call berrerd-berrerd. It is the one with a pair of fire drills for its tail, it has long tail feathers, these being fire sticks from long ago [in the traditinal story].
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Contribute
Do you have photographs of plants and animals from Kakadu and western Arnhem Land?
You can contribute them to this site. Search for a species in the search engine below and follow the instructions to contribute your images.