Blue-tailed Bee-eater

The blue-tailed bee-eater is a slender, richly coloured bee-eater, about 29cm long plus central tail streamers of about 7cm, weighing 29–43g. It is mainly green, with a narrow blue patch on the face, a black stripe through the eye, a yellow and brown throat, a blue tail and a black bill. The sexes are alike, and juveniles are duller and lack the tail streamers. The blue-cheeked bee-eater is the only similar species, but it tends to live in drier country (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is usually seen in open country near water. It catches flying insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, in sallies from an open perch, and probably takes dragonflies in roughly equal numbers, beating prey against the perch before eating it. It may also hunt over estuaries and the sea near the coast. Many populations are strongly migratory, and it breeds in colonies in small areas, mostly in river valleys, tunnelling into sandy banks. SoIB 2023 lists it as a migrant within India and a winter visitor, estimates a long-term increase of about 47%, and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).