Merops philippinus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus) is a bee-eater species mostly seen in open habitats close to water. It is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia where many populations are strongly migratory, and seen seasonally in many parts but breeding colonially in small areas across their range, mostly in river valleys, where they nest by tunneling into loamy sand banks.
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has a narrow blue patch with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the tail is blue and the beak is black. The three outer toes are united around their bases. It is around 29 cm long excluding the elongated central tail feathers, which are an additional 7 cm long, and a weight of around 29–43 grams. Sexes are alike. The juveniles are drabber, and lack the elongated central tail feathers. This species is usually found near water and like other bee-eaters it predominantly eats flying insects, especially bees (as large as the Xylocopa sp.), wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. They may also forage in flight over estuaries, backwaters... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phnom Penh | 🇰🇭 Cambodia | |
| 2 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Denpasar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Chennai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Tiruchirappalli | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 8 | Bangkok | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 9 | Cebu City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 10 | Kollam | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taipei Zoo | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-tailed Bee-eater sighting in Cebu City on a given day, based on 68 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 21st most-seen of the 82 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August–September and November
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-tailed Bee-eater in Cebu City on a given day, against about 10% in June, the lowest month.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-tailed Bee-eater sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 59 cities where we can rate Blue-tailed Bee-eater sightings, Cebu City ranks 9th at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Phnom Penh (Cambodia, about 40%), Ponnani (India, about 40%) and Kochi (India, about 40%).
Same order: Coraciiformes
The closest relatives of the Blue-tailed Bee-eater that you can see in Cebu City (order Coraciiformes, Rollers, Kingfishers, and Allies) are Collared Kingfisher (about 90%) and Common Kingfisher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-tailed Bee-eater is recorded against all the birds logged in Cebu City (68 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
