- Merops philippinus
Merops superciliosus
Identification
28–30 cm (11-11¾ in); plus 7cm tail streamers
- Green plumage
- Narrow blue patch on face
- Black eye stripe
- Yellow and brown throat
- Black bill
- Blue tail; 2 elongated central tail feathers
Sexes similar
Distribution
Sri Lanka, India to southern China, south-eastern Asia, New Guinea and Indonesia
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Open country usually associated with water, along rivers, marshes and ricefields.
Behaviour
These birds can be found feeding and roosting communally.
Diet
The diet consists of honey bees, wasps and hornets and a variety of other bugs and beetles.
Breeding
Colonial breeders. The nests are at the end of a longish tunnel in a sandy bank. The clutch consists of 5-7 spherical white eggs which are incubated by both adults.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Mar 2018)
- Wikipedia
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue-tailed Bee-eater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-tailed_Bee-eater
External Links
