Beautiful bird appears in mangrove park

Writer: Chen Siqi  |  Editor: Holly Wang  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2020-09-23

Blue-throated bee-eaters. File photo

A blue-throated bee-eater, which is renowned as the most beautiful bird in China, was recently spotted in Futian Mangrove Ecological Park and has attracted many photography lovers, Shenzhen Evening News reported yesterday.

The blue-throated bee-eaters are medium-sized birds, each measuring 26-28 centimeters, with colorful plumage consisting of a red or chocolate nape, blue-green wings, a blue or light blue waist and tail and a distinctive blue throat. They also have an elongated dark mouth.

The blue-throated bee-eaters prefer to stay in open fields and forests, or in a coastal area. And a cluster of birds will gather in sandy fields during the mating period.

The blue-throated bee-eater is a species of bird in the bee-eater family which is named after its capability of capturing bees. There are eight bee-eater species recorded in China and two of them, the blue-tailed bee-eater and the blue-throated bee-eater, can be seen in Shenzhen.

These two species are both migratory birds, flying from Yunnan Province or Southeast Asia to mate in Guangdong or Fujian provinces in the first half of the year, and will fly back to Southeast Asia to spend the winter. Therefore, a few migratory bee-eaters can occasionally be seen in Shenzhen, and primarily from April to May and from September to October.

The blue-throated bee-eater spotted in Futian Mangrove Park is a juvenile bird, but already a good hunter for wasps, butterflies, dragonflies and beetles.

The juvenile bird has been staying here for a week, a bird enthusiast said. The bird is not afraid of human beings, flying as close as one meter to park visitors.