The European bee-eater has taken a fancy to the south of Belarus. Representatives of this bird species usually live in North Africa and Western Asia, and they go to Africa or India for the winter. For our latitudes, this phenomenon is extremely rare. Recently, the bird with an exotic coloring has taken root in the Belarusian climate. The sand quarries of the Gomel region are a nesting place. The endangered species lives next to the sand martins in sandy flats. A decision has been made to introduce environmental measures to limit sand mining in quarries until mid-August. According to ornithologists, there are about 400 pairs of the European bee-eater in Belarus. The rare bird has been spotted in the Pripyatsky National Park, Zhitkovichi, Khoiniki and Vetka districts.