Rainbow Bee-eater - Assisting Disease Border Control

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The Rainbow Bee-eater is found throughout mainland Australia, as well as eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and, rarely, the Solomon Islands. In Australia, it is widespread, except in desert areas, and breeds throughout most of its range, although southern birds move north to over winter.

A rainbow bee-eater regurgitates a pellet of indigestible parts of its prey, like insect wings and exoskeletons, to expel them from its body. This is a normal and healthy process, not a sign of sickness. The pellets are often collected by scientists to analyze the bird's diet and monitor local insect populations.

Rainbow bee-eater pellet diagnostics were introduced to the NBPSP program in 2022, following its success in detecting Asian honey bees during the National Varroa Mite Eradication Program (NVMEP) in Queensland, which concluded in 2019. This technique is now employed in both Queensland and the Northern Territory to help mitigate the risk of Asian honey bee incursions.

During 2023 the QLD Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) and the NT Department of Industry Tourism and Trade (NT DITT), respectively collected 30 and 18 rainbow bee-eater pellet samples, at ports as part of the NBPSP and no exotic bees were detected.

“Over five years we collected 225,000 bird pellets which contained 1.6 million bee wings, of which 79 were identified as Asian honey bee wings,” Roger said.

“Once Asian honey bee wings have been identified, other surveillance methods are used to find the nest. The birds definitely helped us to achieve eradication.”