Direct Speech: bee-eater

1 - Learning Objective

Learning Objective

We are learning how to use and punctuate direct speech.

Context: bee-eater

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04hnpkf/player

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Credit: BBC One - Planet Earth II

Clip Description

Most bee-eaters are brightly coloured and have downward pointing beaks. Of the 27 different species, the majority can be found in Africa and Asia. As their name suggests, they love to eat flying insects, especially bees and wasps. To avoid being stung, a bee-eater must carefully remove a bee or wasp’s venom sac and stinger.

In this fascinating clip, we see how carmine bee-eaters use the giants of the African savannah, elephants, to flush out insects from the grass. Once in the air, the birds use their aerial skills to catch the insects and eat them either on the wing or once they have been taken back to their perches. Why might this hunting method be fraught with danger? Watch the clip to find out.

Discuss the meaning of each word highlighted in bold.

Word Challenge

Can you list some powerful verbs that describe the aerial acrobatics of the bee-eaters featured in the clip?

e.g.  dive-bombed, swooped, loop-the-looped, …