Merops Migration at Tanjung Tuan, Malaysia: An Important Spring Bee-eater Migration Watchsite in South-east Asia

Abstract

Counts of migrating Blue-tailed Bee-eaters Merops philippinus and Blue throated Bee-eaters M. viridis, were made in March 2000 and 2001 at Tanjung Tuan, a coastal migration watchsite in western Malaysia. A total of 2,226 bee-eaters of these two species (12.9 bee-eaters/hour) was counted on 26 days of observation in these two seasons. The Blue-tailed Bee-eater comprised 60.8% (1,353 birds) of bee-eaters that could be identified, whereas the Blue-throated Bee-eater was much less abundant, comprising 10.0% of the individuals (222). Significantly more bee-eaters were counted when winds had a westerly component (NW, W or SW) than when winds were from other directions. Bee-eater migration is a regular and predictable event at Tanjung Tuan each spring, leading us to recommend that additional spring counts be made at this Southeast Asian migration watchsite.