Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus Scientific name definitions

28–30 cm (with streamers, up to 7 cm more); 29–43 g. Green above, with blue rump and tail  ; broad black eyestripe, bordered with narrow blue streak below  , usually very thin blue line above; chin yellow, throat and cheeks rufous-tan; underparts green, undertail-coverts  blue; iris claret. Differs from rather similar M. persicus in having lower half of cheek and moustachial area same tan colour as throat, not green, and rump  and tail  blue, not green; from M. superciliosus in greener crown, blue rump and tail, blue stripe below mask. Sexes alike. Juvenile  duller and bluer, head and body with white feather fringes, chin yellow-buff, throat rufous-buff, very like juvenile M. persicus.

N Pakistan, C & N India, Nepal and SE Sri Lanka E to Myanmar, SE China (Yunnan to Guangdong and Hainan) and Philippines, and S to Sulawesi and Flores (Lesser Sundas); also E New Guinea and New Britain. In winter also in S India, Sri Lanka, Malay Peninsula and Greater Sundas.

Frequents a variety of habitats in open and closed country near water: mangrove, tidal estuaries, margins of woodland, forest clearings, lakeshores, river valleys, plantations, farmland, paddyfields, suburban gardens.

A summer visitor to N Pakistan, N India and Himalayan States; common in Pakistan from Apr to Oct, flocks sometimes 1000-strong departing in mainly SE direction; although resident in Sri Lanka, better known there as a winter visitor from Oct or Nov to Mar or Apr. In SE Asia, too, it is a breeding visitor in N and a resident but also a conspicuous winter visitor in S; passage of over 150 birds an hour heading S occurs on W coastal plains of Malaysia in Aug–Oct, and large flocks return across Malacca Strait in Mar–Apr. Migrants have occurred on Andaman and Nicobar Is. Fairly common resident in Philippines, where also thought to be a winter visitor. Mainly resident in New Guinea, but thousands seen in R Bensbach region in Dec were probably immigrants.

Eats honeybees (Apis), wasps, hornets (including Vespa orientalis) and a variety of other hymenopterans, beetles, bugs, flies, moths, butterflies (including the noxious Danaus chrysippus), and numerous dragonflies (including the large Crocothemis servillea); occasionally takes small fish. Feeds by making long pursuit-flights from telephone wires, powerlines and treetops; makes height with fast, even wingbeats, glides, then twists abruptly after its prey; hornets are seized from below, with the bird’s head thrown back and its bill pointing straight up. Returns to perch to beat prey against it and, if a stinger, rubs its tail on the perch to discharge venom. Flock often forages in continuous flight, usually high over trees.

Commonest call is a rolling, rather bisyllabic “pr-reee...pr-reee...”, sometimes interspersed with subdued “djup...djup..” calls. Overall rather similar to vocalizations of M. persicus.

Breeds in Feb–Jun N of equator, Feb–May and Sept–Nov near equator; in New Guinea fledglings seen in May, but most breeding records in Sept–Nov. Colonial  , with tens or hundreds of pairs together; sometimes in mixed colonies with M. viridis or M. leschenaulti; helpers not known, but social order would well merit investigation. Excavates burrow  in dry, sandy or loamy bank of waterway or in flat, grassy ground, roadside cutting, coastal dune, clay-pan, even in crumbling mud wall of building or in sea cliff; in New Guinea favours airstrips; burrow 1–2 m long, dug by both sexes. Clutch of 5–7 white eggs, mean size 22·7 mm × 20·2 mm (Philippines) (2 Wolfe, L. R. (1938). Birds of central Luzon. Auk 55:198–224. Close ); incubation and nestling periods uncertain.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Uncommon to locally common over forested regions in SE Asia, and common to locally abundant from Pakistan and Rajasthan to Bangladesh. Local and rather rare in New Guinea and New Britain. Present in numerous national parks throughout wide range, e.g. Kosi (Nepal), Kaziranga and Rajiv Gandhi/Nagarhole (India), Yala (Sri Lanka), Khao Sam Roi Yot (Thailand), Kuala Selangor (Malaysia), Bali Barat (Bali), Lore Lindu (Sulawesi) and Wasur (New Guinea).