Blue-tailed Bee-eater நீலவால் பஞ்சுருட்டான்

Common name: Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Tamil Name: நீலவால் பஞ்சுருட்டான்

Scientific name: Merops philippinus

Photo shot at: Backyard of Porunai men’s hostel and the area

connecting Bavani hostel and Univ. administration building

Photo credit: B. S. Karthikeyan and Manoj kumar

Description: The Blue-tailed Bee-eater is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds in southeastern Asia. It is strongly migratory, seen seasonally in much of peninsular India. They mostly prefer vast open fields, scrubland and agricultural fields. Also it is most often seen near water bodies. The Blue-tailed bee-eaters mainly feed on dragon flies and bees, mostly catching them in mid-air. Also they feed on all kinds of flying insects & the variety of prey is very vast. Before eating its meal, a bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface. During this process, pressure is applied to the insect thereby extracting most of the venom. Once an insect lands the bee-eater ignores it, even if in plain sight; bee-eaters are "programmed" to catch things only on the wing only. This habit is seen in many other members of the coraciiformes order. They are gregarious, nesting colonially in sandy banks or open flat areas. They make a relatively long tunnel in which the 5 to 7 spherical white eggs are laid. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs. These birds also feed and roost communally.