The blue-tailed bee-eater, found through much of southeastern Asia, is yellowish/green with a blue rump and tail and a chestnut throat. Its face has a narrow blue patch with a black eye-stripe.
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No question about this being a blue-tailed. Found in Bundala NP. |
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Same with this one, found in Udawalawe NP. |
I struggled with wanting to identify some as chestnut-headed bee-eaters because of the prominence of red, but for several reasons ended up deciding they were blue-tailed instead. First, the red was not red enough and as extensive as it should be, and second, many have the narrow blue patch near the black eye-stripe.
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This one, found in Bundala NP, was a little more difficult to identify becuase it has pretty strong red and yellow. The blue patch near the eye-stripe does it for me. |
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The same bird with a head-on shot showing the yellow. |
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This one gave me the most problem of all. It does not have an obvious blue eye-patch. But by process of elimination, decided it has to be blue-tailed. |
They look like something out of a coloring book--so many colors, so beautiful!
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