Cardinal With A Bee
You'd think a stinging bee would be avoided by hungry birds, but apparently not. They probably are adept in making sure the stinging abdomen is held outside the mouth area like this cardinal is demonstrating.
Or maybe they make sure it is dead and not stinging before they ingest it?
I have a feeling this male was courting a female that was flying around the area at the time. He spent a good two minutes sitting on this branch and it seemed he had no intention of eating the bee himself. Probably part of their courting/mating ritual where the male offers food to the female as evidence of his undying love :)
It sure worked out for me since I had a full two minutes to capture great images, as opposed to the three seconds that I'm used to from these beautiful red birds!
The bee is best seen when the image is enlarged...
Cardinal With A Bee
You'd think a stinging bee would be avoided by hungry birds, but apparently not. They probably are adept in making sure the stinging abdomen is held outside the mouth area like this cardinal is demonstrating.
Or maybe they make sure it is dead and not stinging before they ingest it?
I have a feeling this male was courting a female that was flying around the area at the time. He spent a good two minutes sitting on this branch and it seemed he had no intention of eating the bee himself. Probably part of their courting/mating ritual where the male offers food to the female as evidence of his undying love :)
It sure worked out for me since I had a full two minutes to capture great images, as opposed to the three seconds that I'm used to from these beautiful red birds!
The bee is best seen when the image is enlarged...