Rainbow bee-eater Rainbow bee-eater The rainbow bee-eater ("Merops ornatus") is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is the only species of Meropidae found in Australia. Rainbow bee-eaters are brilliantly coloured birds that grow to be 19–24 cm (max 28 cm) in length, including the elongated tail feathers. The upper back and wings are green in colour, and the lower back and under-tail coverts are bright blue. The undersides of the wings and primary flight feathers are red and tipped with black, and the tail is black to deep violet. The rainbow bee-eater's two central tail feathers are longer
Rainbow than the red light. Due to this angle, blue is seen on the inside of the arc of the primary rainbow, and red on the outside. The result of this is not only to give different colours to different parts of the rainbow, but also to diminish the brightness. (A "rainbow" formed by droplets of a liquid with no dispersion would be white, but brighter than a normal rainbow.) The light at the back of the raindrop does not undergo total internal reflection, and some light does emerge from the back. However, light coming out the back of the raindrop