The birds and the bees: Western Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) prefer drone honeybees

We observed a pair of Western Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) take advantage of opportunities to forage on a honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony. They perched on a site that afforded them good visual access to the flight pattern of worker and male (drone) bees entering and leaving the colony and attentively watched the bee flights. When a male bee was spotted, they quickly flew off their perch, grabbed the bee, returned to the perch, and swallowed the intact bee headfirst. They did not strike the bee or its abdomen against the substrate before swallowing. Analysis of regurgitated pellets collected under the perch site revealed head capsules of 149 drone bees and none of worker bees. This pair of Western Kingbirds was capable of distinguishing between stinging, distasteful worker honeybees and chose palatable, undefended drones in flight. Received 18 August 2022. Accepted 21 December 2022.