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Carmine Bee-Eaters, Chad, 2007

Photo: Red-and-green birds on dry riverbed

Colorful carmine bee-eaters set up a breeding colony in holes they dug in a dried-up, sandy riverbed in Zakouma National Park, Chad. During the day, bee-eaters catch honeybees and other insects, sometimes displaying them outside their holes to attract mates. At sunset the colony gathers and embarks on a mysterious, swirling flight. By nightfall the birds are back in their holes.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Zakouma: Eye to Eye," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)

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Photograph by Michael Nichols