---
title: "Blauwstaartbijeneter"
description: "Merops philippinus — Vogels. The blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus) is a bee-eater species mostly seen in open habitats close to water."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/blue-tailed-bee-eater
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Blauwstaartbijeneter

> Merops philippinus — Vogels. The blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus) is a bee-eater species mostly seen in open habitats close to water.

- Scientific name: *Merops philippinus*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Meren en rivieren)
- iNaturalist observations: 10964
- Wikidata: [Q31884](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q31884)
- iNaturalist taxon: [2212](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/2212)

## Names

- en: Blue-tailed Bee-eater
- de: Blauschwanzspint
- es: Abejaruco coliazul
- fr: Guêpier à queue d'azur
- nl: Blauwstaartbijeneter
- pt: Abelharuco-de-cauda-azul
- pl: Żołna modrosterna

## Countries with the most observations

IN (3740), TH (1475), SG (1321), LK (1044), MY (865), ID (603), PH (334), VN (182), TW (172), CN (133), KH (120), TL (56)

## Summary

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.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-tailed_bee-eater

## Photo

![Blauwstaartbijeneter](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/blue-tailed-bee-eater/medium.jpg)

Photo: Светлана Царахова · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147582576

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/blue-tailed-bee-eater?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).