Volume 21 (2013): Issue 2 (December 2013)

The European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster Linnaeus, 1758) is known as ‛beekeeper bird’ and an effective ecosystem engineer species. The fact that in 2013 it became ‛The Bird of the Year’ in Hungary offers the possibility to summarise the information about the distribution, population size, breeding and feeding ecology, dispersion, migration, intra- and interspecific relationships as well as the nature conservation status of the bee-eater population breeding in Hungary. Though this review focuses on the Hungarian population trends, but also summarises the major research results from other countries. In the period of 1992-2013, the number of breeding pairs were surveyed in 5897 2.5×2.5 km UTM squares in the frame of the Monitoring of Rare and Colonial Breeding Birds programme. In the surveyed area during the period of 1992-2013, the most accurate estimate suggests a 10600-19600 breeding pair population. The larger nesting colonies were observed in the following regions: Zala Hills, Outer Somogy, Gerecse, Velencei Hills, Mezőföld, Gödöllő Hills, Tápió, Bükkalja, Taktaköz, Körös region. The annual population indices showed marked fluctuation with stable long term population trend in Hungary. The national monitoring and protection project of the European Bee-eater revealed the most important factors endangering the nesting populations, these are weed invasion and the collapse of vertical banks, mining carried out in the nesting period and direct human-caused disturbance (e.g. shooting, tourism).

According to our surveys carried out in the Gödöllő Hills between 2009–2012, a relatively high proportion (39-57%) of the known 36-40 Bee-eater nesting sites can be found in natural habitats, on hillsides as opposed to nests excavated into man-made artificial walls. 51.8% of the nesting population breeds under such natural circumstances in loess and sandy hillsides, and the nests are excavated into the soil covered by vegetation. We have shown that 61.9% of the nests were built in loess, 28.4% in sandy and 9.7% in mixed type of substrate. Bee-eaters nesting on hillsides prefer the slopes between 11-30°. The slope of the hill is higher on loess grounds (average: 24.67°) as opposed to the sandy ones (average: 13.97°). The length of the nesting cavities differs significantly between the two substrate, those built in sandy areas being longer. The cavities in loess are deeper underground. The Bee-eaters nesting on hillsides prefer places with low vegetation cover

Colonial breeding birds such as the European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster), are perfectly suited for ectoparasitological studies, as their elaborate social life and frequent body-to-body contacts induce high prevalence of louse (Phthiraptera) infestations. In this study we investigated a large breeding colony at Albertirsa, Hungary, and measured the louse burden of the breeding population. With more than 200 pairs nesting in the loess wall there, it may be Hungary’s largest colony of European Bee-eaters. We sampled breeding birds and compared their louse burdens between age groups and sexes. We report the prevalence, mean and median intensity of infestations of the three louse species harboured by the Bee-eaters, and the results of louse burden comparisons between age groups and sexes.

Prey choice of European Bee-eaters was monitored via taking pictures of parent birds carrying prey items to their perches in front of the nests between 2011 and 2013 at three colonies in Hungary: at Pócsmegyer, Nagykarácsony and Albertirsa. All the colonies were studied in the breeding season, and prey items were identified from the digital images taken of adults carrying food for their chicks. During the three years 25 days were spent with collecting photographic data, and from the thousands of pictures taken 805 were suitable for analysis. On 775 photographs the prey item was identified at least to order level. Combining data from all the colonies hymenopterans were by far the most often consumed insects (50%), followed by dragonflies (17%), while beetles, orthopterans, lepidopterans and dipterans each contributed approximately 7-9% of the consumed prey. Prey composition showed marked differences between the individual colonies, although the ratio of hymenopterans was everywhere high. Bee-eaters at Pócsmegyer, probably due to the abundance of aquatic habitats nearby on the Danube shore, consumed almost as much dragonflies as hymenopterans, and ate very few orthopterans. While at the Albertirsa colony, surrounded by agricultural fields and meadows in a more arid environment, hymenopterans dominated the prey, and orthopterans were almost as often consumed as dragonflies. Lepidopterans constituted approximately 8% of Bee-eaters’ diet in all colonies. From an insect ecological viewpoint, our study provides valuable data on the species pool that might be at risk of predation by Bee-eaters, and enables us to roughly estimate the predation pressure on some taxa, and in certain cases even on species by these birds.

In the Golyófogó Valley near Albertirsa natural erosion created near vertical walls in the loess deposited in the last glacial period, offering natural nesting sites for the European Bee-eater. Later the deeply cut coach roads, the pits of loess extraction and the construction works of the motorway nearby created further man-made banks. Hence by the 1970-ies a well-established colony bred here, but by the beginning of the 21^st century, disturbance and the demise of vertical banks led to a serious reduction in the number of breeding pairs. The purchase of 5-hectare loess grassland plot and the adjacent loess bank, and later its reconstruction led to an unprecedented growth in the number of Bee-eaters. From 2010 the number of breeding pairs exceeded 200 every year. Not only the Bee-eater colony, but also the natural vegetation and the botanical values of the area are managed to maintain the population of rare and protected element of the local flora and fauna.

A new species appeared in the Hungarian avifauna, the Black-shouldered Kite in 2012. The bird was staying in Fornapuszta (coordinate), near Csákvár (Fejér County), between August 22^nd and 27^th. The number of bird species which occurred in Hungary has risen to 406 with the observation of this species.