Abstract
Relationships between birds and social insects include birds following ants, birds nesting close to active colonies of wasps or bees, and nesting inside termitaria. A little known relationship between birds and colonial insects is that of stingless bees (Meliponina) entering the nostrils of hawks and owls. Herein I report on a stingless bee entering the nostrils of the Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris), and on avoiding behaviours displayed by the same hawk species and a Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) in presence of stingless bees hovering in front of their faces. The bees probably were seeking mucus inside the raptors’ nostrils, as already reported for a few birds of prey. Avoiding behaviour seems a novelty in this relationship between raptors and bees. The role stingless bees play in the lives of some bird species remains little known, and merits closer attention by field ornithologists and apidolologist.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Altmann, J. 1974. Observational study of behaviour: sampling methods. Behaviour, 49(3): 227–267.
Brightsmith, D. J. 2000. Use of arboreal termitaria by nesting birds in the Peruvian Amazon. The Condor, 102(3): 529–538.
Gehlbach, F.R. 2009. Eastern Screech Owl: life history, ecology, and behavior in the suburbs and countryside. The W. L. Moody Jr. Natural History Series, no 16. College Station, Texas A & M University Press.
Lobato, D. N. C.; Antonini, Y.; Martins, R. P. & Azeredo, R. 2007. Visita de abelhas a narinas de aves de rapina (Accipitridae e Strigidae): mutualismo facultativo? Anais do VIII Congresso de Ecologia do Brasil, Caxambu - MG: 1–2.
Marks, J. S.; Cunnings, R. J. & Mikkola, H. 1999. Family Strigidae (typical owls), p. 76–242. In: del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 5, Barn-owls to hummingbirds. Barcelona, Lynx Edicions.
Myers, J. G. 1935. Nesting associations of birds with social insects. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 83(1): 11–23.
Quinn, J. L. & Ueta, M. 2008. Protective nesting associations in birds. Ibis, 150(Supplement 1): 146–167.
Roubik, D. W. 1982. Obligate necrophagy in a social bee. Science, 217(4564): 1059–1060.
Roubik, D. W. 1992. Ecology and natural history of tropical bees. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Santos, G. M. & Antonini, Y. 2008. The traditional knowledge on stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponina) used by the Enawene-Nawe tribe in western Brazil. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 4:19. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-4-19.
Sazima, I. & D’Angelo, G. 2015. Associações de aves com insetos sociais: um sumário no Sudeste do Brasil. Iheringia, Série Zoologia, 105: 333–338.
Willis, E. O. & Oniki, Y. 1978. Birds and army ants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 9: 243–263.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Sazima, I. Bee in the nose: raptors let or let not stingless bees enter their nostrils. Rev. Bras. Ornitol. 23, 323–326 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544300
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544300