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Do Birds eat Wasps or Bees (1 Viewer)

Peewit

Once a bird lover ... always a bird lover
hi there

This is a question from my OH

Do birds (any type in the UK) eat wasps or bees as part of their diet.

We are convinced that we are seeing birds eating wasps from the nest in our garden shed at the moment.

Kathy ;)
x
 
Hi Kathy,

Yes, is the short answer.

I've seen Red-backed shrikes and Bee-eaters eat them, and have seen a Kestrel catch a bee and let it go again!
Honey buzzards of course eat both bees and wasps - and I'm sure there are other species that will give them a go.
I suspect none of the above feature in your garden though! What is it that's feeding on them?
 
I suspect none of the above feature in your garden though!

Especially not in the garden shed ;)

Here is a Honey Buzzard pottering towards a garden shed, about to empty the wasp nest under the bench...
 

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Last year's Lesser Grey Shrike in Northumberland knocked a hole in the local bee and wasp population during its short stay.

This one's a wasp.
 

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This thread has just reminded me ,that a chap in the village found a wasps/bees nest inside his Bluetit nesting box.He said the wasp nest was perfectly formed as such,but it had been eaten away in places.So his query was,did the birds feed from the insects? .He said he still has the box and nest.
 
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