Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater | Valiya Velithatha | Merops Philippinus | വലിയ വേലിത്തത്ത | Birds Kerala

Today we are going to familiarize the bird Blue-tailed bee eater. In ‘Malayalam’ vernacular, the bird is called as ‘Valiya Velithatha’.

Scientific name of the bird is Merops philippinus.

The birds occur in Central and Northern India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, South east China, New Guinea and the Philippines. The populations are strongly migratory and seen seasonally in many parts but breeding colonially in small areas across their range. Migrants have recorded in Andaman and Nicobar Is.

The birds visit during winter months in peninsular India, including Kerala. Also breeding has been recorded in northern Kerala, but most populations are strongly migratory and breeding colonially in small areas across their range.
The birds are seen mostly in open habitats close to water. They occur in farmland, paddy fields, suburban gardens, mangrove stands, tidal estuaries, margins of woodland, forest clearings, lakeshores, river valleys, and plantations.

The bird is about 28–30 cm long with streamers, up to 7 cm more and 29–43 g. Green above, with blue rump and tail. It has a broad black eye stripe, bordered with narrow blue streak below, and with a very thin blue line above. Throat and cheeks rufous-tan; underparts green, under tail coverts blue. Beak is black and iris purplish red. Sexes alike. Juvenile bird duller and bluer.

The diet includes flying insects, especially bees, wasps, beetles, bugs, moths, butterflies, dragonflies which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. They may also forage in flight over estuaries, backwaters and even over the sea but not far from the coast. The insects that are caught are beaten on the perch to kill and break the exoskeleton.
They call mainly in flight with a rolling chirping whistling teerp.

They breed in April to May in India. Recorded breeding in northern Kerala. The birds excavates burrow 1-2 m long, in dry, sandy or loamy bank of waterway or roadside cutting. The burrows dug by both sexes. Clutch of 5–7 white eggs, incubation and nestling periods uncertain.
In IUCN Global Red list, the bird is included under” Least concern”.