This is the first image from a mating sequence (consisting of five images). This is part of the very brief courtship of Bee-eaters. Here the male seems to put his wing tenderly around the female. The following moments appear rather brutal to us, when the male hits the female's head quickly and quite violently with his bill. But these are all human interpretations of the courtship. In fact these moments are just part of the bonding activities of a pair, which finally must lead to an offspring.