The summer migrant depends on insect-rich wetlands and fragile earthen banks where climate-driven floods, drought and erosion may heighten risks despite its global Least Concern status.
Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall and increasingly unstable riverbanks could disrupt the food, migration and breeding cycle of one of Bangladesh’s most colourful summer visitors.
The blue-tailed bee-eater, a striking migratory bird known for its turquoise-blue tail, green plumage and swift aerial hunting, is facing growing pressure as climate change reshapes the wetlands, riverbanks and open landscapes on which it depends.
The species, scientifically known as Merops philippinus, occurs widely across South and Southeast Asia. Many South Asian populations migrate seasonally, while studies in Bangladesh have recorded the bird as a summer migrant. Researchers have also documented it among breeding birds on the Chittagong University campus.
Blue-tailed bee-eaters feed mainly on flying insects, including bees, wasps, dragonflies and other airborne prey, catching them in acrobatic flights from exposed perches. They commonly use open areas near wetlands and rivers and breed in colonies by excavating long tunnels in sandy or sandy-clay banks. Research in India found breeding colonies using sparsely vegetated sandy soils during the rainy season, generally from May to August.
That dependence on both insects and exposed soil makes the bird potentially vulnerable to a changing climate.
More intense rainfall can erode or collapse riverbanks and sandy slopes containing nesting tunnels, while prolonged flooding can make traditional breeding sites unsuitable. At the other extreme, drought and prolonged dry periods can alter wetland conditions and affect insect abundance, reducing the food available to adults and growing chicks.
Climate change is already increasing risks to ecosystems through rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more frequent or intense extreme events in many regions, according to assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Such changes can affect the timing of biological events, species movements and relationships between predators and their prey.
For a migratory insect-eater, timing is crucial. Blue-tailed bee-eaters must arrive at breeding grounds when nesting conditions are suitable and insect prey is abundant. If warming or abnormal rainfall causes insects to emerge earlier or later than usual, the birds may encounter a mismatch between their migration and peak food availability.
Bangladesh’s rapidly changing river systems add another layer of pressure. The bird’s reliance on earthen banks means erosion, riverbank modification, sand extraction and development can compound climate-related stresses by reducing safe nesting habitat.
The species is currently classified as Least Concern, meaning it is not considered globally threatened. But that status does not make individual populations immune to local habitat loss or climatic disruption.
Protecting natural riverbanks, wetlands, grasslands and insect-rich open habitats could therefore benefit the blue-tailed bee-eater and many other birds.
Its brilliant blue tail may still be a familiar flash across Bangladesh’s summer skies, but conserving the landscapes beneath those wings will become increasingly important as the climate changes.
The following video is in Bangla:
