One of Kakadu’s most striking birds, the rainbow bee-eater can be found all over the park.

What it looks like

The rainbow bee-eater is a riot of colour. It has a golden crown, orange-yellow throat, green breast, blue abdomen and a tail finished with colourful streamers. It grows to a size of around 23 cm.

Where to see it

These pretty little birds are commonly seen darting about the open woodlands and paperbark forests that fringe Kakadu’s floodplains. Try the Bardedjilidji walk in the East Alligator (Erre) region.

Behaviour

As its name suggests, the rainbow bee-eater has a real taste for bees. However, it actually eats a variety of flying insects, consuming several thousand per day.

It hunts from a perch, swooping out to catch insects mid-flight before bringing them back to the perch and knocking them against it.

Other names

• Scientific name: Merops ornatus