(merops orientalis cyanophys)
Small bird with a long tail and green plumage, a black mask around the eyes and blue cheeks. The iris of the eyes is red. It has a long pointed beak, lightly hooked in order to catch all kinds of insects. It exists 8 subspecies of Oriental Bee-Eaters, with a variation of plumage hues, among them the Blue-tailed. The Oriental Bee-Eater appreciates arid areas with...
.. stony and sandy grounds and dense bushes as the acacia and the ziziphus, so we can find it mainly in the wadis. The area of Ghor Safi is an especially good place to observe Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater. It is sedentary and nets in the riversides and the embankments, by digging a 1 to 2 m long tunnel with a small room at the end. The laying gives between 4 and 8 eggs and takes place between March and June, with eventually an extension in July and August. The oriental bee-eater is not endangered and is relatively common. We can recognize its song through a kind of rolling trill.