Loess & Bee-eaters VII: Poland; South-East Poland; near Przemysl; near Sandomierz

Sepiol, B., Dudzik, K.,  Mandziak, M.  2012.  Breeding population of the European bee-eater Merops apiaster in the Sandomierz Upland 2001-2012. Naturalia 1, 71-86 (in Polish, English summary)
"all the nests were located in loess banks."

 

Loess & Bee-eaters VI: the European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) in Hungary... + the Loess in Hungary

Gyuracz, J., Nagy, K., Fuisz, T.I., Kareza, Zs., Szep, T.  2013.  European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster Linnaeus 1758) in Hungary: a review.  Ornis Hungarica 21, 1-22

Kerenyi, Z., Ivok, E.  2013.  Nestsite characteristics of the European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster L) in the Godollo Hills.  Ornis Hungarica 21, 23-32.

Urban, S., Turi, K., Vas, Z., Fuisz, T.I.,  2013.  A successful habitat reconstruction effort, the short history of the European Bee-eater (merops apiaster) colony at Albertirsa (Hungary).  Ornis Hungarica 21, 47-51.

Two maps: Fig.2 shows the distribution of bee-eaters in Hungary- from Gyuracz et al 2013 (the reference listed above); Loess Ground added the colour; its a beautiful and detailed map. The paper shows that there is more of Hungary to be studied from the bee-eater nesting point of view; fig.2 shows bee-eaters in the regions that have been studied.
Fig.4 is a rather less detailed and stylish map- its an old map, from Smalley & Leach 1978, and it hints at loess distribution in Hungary. S & L did not have access to a proper detailed loess map of Hungary; the regions D3 and D4 belong to the outline (emphasize outline) distribution of loess in the Danube Basin and related parts of East-Central Europe. In retrospect its a rather absurd description of the distribution of loess- but actually its not that bad.

Abb.8 is the slightly enhanced map of loess in Hungary from Scheidig 1934. The loess shown by Scheidig and the bee-eater zones of Gyuracz et al do show a good correlation. Hungary must be close to some sort of northern limit for bee-eater nesting; the reports of bee-eaters in Poland and the Czech Republic are not reports of large well established populations; in Hungary there are substantial numbers.

"The 27 colourful & morphologically uniform species of the Meropidae family are divided into 3 genera. The 3 species belonging to the Nyctiornis (2 species) and Meropogon (1 specie) genera are confined to the Far East, from the Himalayan Mountains to the Sulawesi; while the 24 species of the Merops genus can be divided into 2 biogeographical and ecological species clade on the basis of phylogenetic analysis.." (Gyuracz et al 2013)

The Meropidae

Loess & Bee-eaters V: Long rivers, silty banks, material from High Asia: a South-East Asian perspective.

The Loess & Bee-eaters project is developing. Bee-eater birds (family Meropidae) like to nest in loess tunnels- a study of this aspect of their behaviour should throw some light on the nature of loess ground and on the behaviour of the birds. Soil Mechanics meets Ornithology- under the blanket of Quaternary Studies and Geography. Four parts so far: part one deals with the European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) and is largely focussed on soil properties and the implications of the Heneberg Compromise: part two deals with the 15N band of Africa and the Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus): part three is set on the Indian sub-continent, and part four is in Australia. The science possibly becomes a bit dilute as the sequence progresses and the stories become more speculative and discursive. Now, for a moment, we look at bee-eaters in south-east Asia. We start with the Alekseev-Dodonov map, with some critical rivers emphasised:

The red rivers carry silt away from High Asia to form bank deposits and delta deposits. Some rivers carry silt away from High Asia to form loess deposits. River transportation and loess deposit formation are related. A question: is the river silt available to bee-eaters in the same way that loess silt is available, and sought after?  How does the delivery of large amounts of silt into S.E.Asia influence the nesting of the bee-eaters?  This map, Loess Letter Map 2, is the famous map by Alekseev & Dodonov 1989- its main purpose was to show the position of the loess in China, but it serves the wider purpose of showing High Asia and associated rivers.

Pictures from Assallay et al (1998) and C.H.Fry (1984). The Assallay picture shows High Asia (it was based on the Alekseev-Dodonov map above)- the rivers indicated carry silt away from High Asia; the ones of immediate concern are rivers 8 and 9: the Irrawaddy and the Mekong. The local conditions inhibit loess deposit formation; the silt goes into bank deposits and delta deposits. So, abundant silt in S.E.Asia.
The Fry picture shows bee-eater nesting across Africa and Asia; not all bee-eaters- these are the data for the Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis); 8 is Merops orientalis ferrugeiceps. Question: does the presence of High-Asia silt facilitate the nesting of the Little Gree Bee-eater in S.E.Asia?
The Little Green Bee-eater is perhaps not the best species to focus on in a study of the relationship of birds to ground. This is the smallest of the Bee-eaters (about the size of a sparrow) and it may be that its small size allows it to nest in grounds which are inaccessible to larger birds- as the Fry figure shows, it does have a wide distribution. No question of this bird being restricted to loess.