Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Merops philippinus
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has a narrow blue patch with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the tail is blue and the beak is black. The three outer toes are united around their bases. It is around 29 cm long excluding the elongated central tail feathers, which are an additional 7 cm long, and a weight of around 29–43 grams. Sexes are alike. The juveniles are drabber, and lack the elongated central tail feathers.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
European Bee-eater
Merops apiaster
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It has brown and yellow upper parts, whilst the wings are green and the beak is black. It can reach a length of 27–29 cm (10.6–11.4 in), including the two elongated central tail feathers, and weigh 44–78 g (52 g on average). Sexes are alike. Female tends to have greener rather than gold feathers on shoulders. Non-breeding plumage is much duller and with a blue-green back and no elongated central tail feathers. Juvenile resembles a non-breeding adult, but with less variation in the feather colours.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where you might meet both
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Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Blue-tailed Bee-eater and European Bee-eater.