Merops philippinus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-tailed Bee-eater sighting in Kaeng Krachan National Park on a given day, based on 176 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 195th most-seen of the 360 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-tailed Bee-eater in Kaeng Krachan National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–June, September and December–March, the lowest months. Those are among Kaeng Krachan National Park's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain a month against 30 mm in December.
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.
19th of 30
Of the 30 parks where we can rate Blue-tailed Bee-eater sightings, Kaeng Krachan National Park ranks 19th at under 5%. The best odds are in Udawalawe National Park (Sri Lanka, about 60%), Yala National Park (Sri Lanka, about 60%) and Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Merops
The closest relatives of the Blue-tailed Bee-eater that you can see in Kaeng Krachan National Park (genus Merops, Typical Bee-eaters) are Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (about 20%) and Asian Green Bee-eater (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 Kaeng Krachan National Park (176 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
