The White, fronted Bee-- eater

Abstract

the White-fronted Bee-eater Merops bullackoides origi-nates from Gabon to Angola, Kenya and
Natal. The sexes are alike. Their calls are varied but most commonly a nasal "chroop, cherow" and  a twitter-ing "krrrrrt."
In the natural state they have certain preferred perches, normally a dead branch, from where they "hawk" their prey. Although colonial, the birds spread out into individual hunting areas
when feeding. They nest in sand banks, most often along river courses.Within the nesting colony are a num ber of "clans" which consist of a nest-ing pair, old parents, brothers and sis-ters and even cousins. Each clan is made up of about five birds.Having completed an indigenous aviary
for environmental education in the Pilanesberg National Park in what comis
now the north west region of South Africa, I was granted permits to collect certain species or their chicks. The idea was to create a close encounters edu-cation concept where the hand raised birds would actually land on the visi-tors. My avicultural experience with these birds is based on a group of eight birds all of which I hand raised.The chicks which I collected for hand rearing varied from newly hatched to about a week old. Additional warmth was supplied to the point where the feathers started to appear on the chest.