This is a unique behaviour I documented recently. The bee-eaters dig the soft sand on river banks to build their nesting cavity. One can imagine that their beaks would be getting worn up due to the digging. So during breeding season they eat snail shells and calcium rich pebbles. During one afternoon, I found this bee-eater gulping down the snail shells. I am not sure if the timing ie. afternoon is of any relevance and why. This bee-eater and/or its mate had got the snail shells and kept it near their nesting cavity. It tried one of the bigger snail shells and quickly discarded it, as it perhaps realised that the size is a bit too much for it to swallow.
Shot this with Canon Cinema C300 camera at f8, ISO 850, 1/50. This is a frame grab from the short 3 min film that I did to highlight the behaviour as well as challenges faced by the Bee-eaters of naguvanahalli. You can watch it at this link: https://youtu.be/tqocpyGA3GA
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