The Red Heart, Blue Head bird

Red heart, blue head

Red headed thinking helps with winning

The Northern Carmine Bee-eater is a brave and clever bird. These traits are echoed in its red heart, blue head. That’s a winning combination.

The Northern Carmine Bee-eater rides on the back of large mammals like Zebra and large birds like the Kori Bustard, waiting for insects to feed on. Out in the open, it is vulnerable to attack from birds of prey flying high above. The risk of being attacked is much higher than staying under cover in the shadows.

However, despite the risks, the Northern Carmine Bee-eater repeatedly takes them. The moving perch that’s on offer provides a great feeding position. Being bold brings more feeding opportunities. Bravery pays off.

Blue headed thinking helps with winning

As its name would suggest, the Carmine Bee-eater has a diet that mostly consists of bees. That brings with it a practical problem. How does the Bee-eater avoid being stung every time it needs to eat?

The Carmine Bee-eater has a cool-headed solution. Once it catches a bee in its beak, it rubs the bee’s sting away on a nearby branch, before safely eating the bee.

Brave and smart

The Northern Carmine Bee-eater is the red heart, blue head bird. It’s both brave and smart. And that well-balanced attitude makes it a very successful bird.