Blue-tailed bee-eater spotted in Naha

Blue-tailed bee-eater spotted in Naha

 

[caption id="attachment_20901" align="alignnone" width="221"] (The first Blue-tailed bee-eater identified in Japan. (Photograph taken by Isamu Uehara) (Ryukyu Shimpo))[/caption]

 

A blue-tailed bee-eater that breeds in Southeast Asia has been spotted at a park in Naha.

 

The sighting was made by bird watcher Akira Nakamura on 26 April 2015 The Roman.

 

According to Kenji Takehara, a member of the Kingdom of Ryukyu Wild Bird Research group, it is the first confirmed sighting of a blue-tailed bee-eater in Japan.

 

A bird belonging to a different family of bee-eaters was found on Miyako Island in July, 1904, which until now was the only record of a bee-eater in Japan.

 

Nakamura found the bee-eater while bird watching with friends.

 

They had to check in a bird guide published overseas to confirm that the sighted bird was in fact a blue-tailed bee-eater.

 

Nakamura said the bird flew like a swallow and caught a bee in mid-air.

 

Then it went back to a tree where it hit the bee’s head on a branch to stun it.

 

The bird also rubbed the bee against a branch to remove its sting, before swallowing the insect.

 

The bird repeated the action many times.

 

This bee-eater has one partially chafed tail feather.

 

Adult blue-tailed bee-eaters have two thin tail feathers, a body length of about 28 centimeters, and mostly prey on bees.

 

(English translation by T&CT, Hitomi Shinzato)

 

(Ryukyu Shimpo, 14 Thursday May 2015 The Roman)