Many birds eat insects, but few make bees the foundational part of their diet. A handful of songbirds in North America regularly consumes bees. Others incorporate bees as a part of their insect diet. These birds use various methods of catching the bees to avoid being stung. Some of them rub the bee along a branch to remove the stinger. In this article we will look at 10 species of birds which regularly eat bees. Let’s look at these interesting birds behavior, eating habits, and preferred habitats.
10 Birds that Eat Bees
1. Scarlet Tanager
Scientific name: Piranga olivacea
The Scarlet Tanager is often known as a ‘bee-eater’ because it relies so heavily on bees for its diet. This tanager doesn’t like only bees, though. It enjoys a variety of insects including cicadas, beetles, termites, dragonflies, grasshoppers and moths.
Scarlet Tanagers live in the tops of trees in thriving deciduous forests, where they’re more likely to see insects returning to hives and nests among the branches. Some insects they will grab off of leaves, tree branches and flowers. However when it comes to bees, wasps and hornets, they usually catch them in the air.
The Scarlet Tanager can be found in the eastern U.S. during the spring and summer, heading back to South America for the winter.
2. Summer Tanager
Scientific name: Piranga rubra
Birdwatchers in the Southeast and Southwest will be able to spot the Summer Tanager in the spring and summer. A relative of other red birds the Scarlet Tanager and the Northern Cardinal, the Summer Tanager is an insect-eating bird that eats just bees and wasps.
Summer Tanagers prefer open forests with a mix of deciduous trees and shrubs. They catch wasps and bees while flying, beat them against a branch, then eat them. Wherever they live in their range, they choose the lower-elevation habitat zones.
Attract them to your yard by planting trees and shrubs that bloom and attract pollinators. They occasionally eat fruit, so berry bushes are a great idea too.