The Rainbow Bee-eater is a brilliantly coloured bird found throughout mainland Australia, as well as in eastern Indonesia, New Guinea, and occasionally the Solomon Islands, favouring open forests, woodlands, shrublands, and cleared areas near water. It feeds mainly on flying insects—especially bees and wasps—along with dragonflies, beetles, butterflies, and moths, which it catches on the wing and often beats against a perch to remove stings and venom glands before eating.