Profile
In flight
Speed Demons
Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Merops philippinus
- uncommon
- 56 km/h
- Least Concern
A slim emerald aerialist that hawks dragonflies in long curving glides above the paddy and returns to the same wire to beat each bee against the perch before swallowing it. Tail streamers like a sapphire afterthought.
- Population
- very large; gathers in conspicuous loose flocks at favored sandy nesting banks
- Habitat
- open country near water — riverbanks, paddy edges, marshes, sandbars, coastal scrub, and grassland with scattered perches; migratory through much of South and Southeast Asia
- Diet
- honey bees, wasps, dragonflies, butterflies, flying ants and beetles — almost exclusively aerial insects
- Size
- 0.3 m
- Wingspan
- 0.36 m
