[File photo]

[File photo]

[File photo]

[InKunming--Yunnan]  Blue-tailed bee-eater, which has the scientific name Merops philippinus, is crowned as the one of the most beautiful birds in China.

Recent years, more and more blue-tailed bee-eaters have been found to spend summers in Qiaojia County(巧家县), Zhaotong City (昭通), Yunnan Province. This year, the number of blue-tailed bee-eaters in Qiaojia County increases sharply.

Blue-tailed bee-eater is a kind of passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds in southeastern Asia. The bird has strongly migratory habit, seen seasonally in Peninsular India.

Like other bee-eaters, blue-tailed bee-eater is a richly colored, slender bird. Blue-tailed bee-eater is usually predominantly green, with a narrow blue patch and black eye stripes on face, yellow and brown tones on throat, a blue tail and a black beak. It can reach a length of 23 to 26 centimeters, including the length of two elongated central tail feathers.

Blue-tailed bee-eater like to display blue tail while perching. It is a bird which breeds in sub-tropical country, and inhabits on farmlands, parks or rice fields. It is most often seen near large water bodies. Like other bee-eaters, it predominantly eats insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.

Blue-tailed bee-eaters are gregarious. In Qiaojia, they nest colonially on sandy banks or in open flat areas. They make a relatively long tunnel in which 5 to 7 spherical white eggs are laid. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs. They also feed and roost communally.

(Editors: Tracy, Cathy Chen)