Lilac-breasted roller
| Lilac-breasted roller | |
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| Adult at South Luangwa National Park, Zambia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Coraciidae |
| Genus: | Coracias |
| Species: | C. caudatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Coracias caudatus Linnaeus, 1766 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) is an African member of the roller family of birds. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula, preferring open woodland and savanna; it is largely absent from treeless places. Usually found alone or in pairs, it perches conspicuously at the tops of trees, poles or other high vantage points from where it can spot insects, lizards, scorpions, snails, small birds and rodents moving about at ground level. Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2–4 eggs is laid, and incubated by both parents, who are extremely aggressive in defence of their nest, taking on raptors and other birds. During the breeding season the male will rise to great heights, descending in swoops and dives, while uttering harsh, discordant cries.
The sexes are alike in coloration. Juveniles do not have the long tail feathers that adults do.
This species is unofficially considered as the national bird of Kenya.
Lilac-breasted rollers are in the Coraciidae (roller) family of birds. Alternate names for the lilac-breasted roller include the fork-tailed roller, lilac-throated roller and Mosilikatze's roller. The alternate name 'lilac-throated roller' may also be used to describe a subspecies of the Purple roller.
Two subspecies are recognized:
In the field, these crow-sized rollers are often perched alone on a tree in a grassy clearing. Lilac-breasted rollers are almost unmistakable with their bright plumage, but may be confused with Abyssinian Rollers in Turkana Basin of Kenya. For C. c. caudatus, look for a lilac throat that deepens into a darker lilac breast. The crown to mantle is olive, and the cheeks and ear coverts are a lilac-rufous. In the subspecies C. c. lorti, the crown to mantle is blue instead of olive, and the breast is azure. The throat is lilac, and some blue-throated rollers have a lilac patch on the lower abdomen. Both subspecies have a long black outermost tail feathers that are absent in juveniles. Lilac-breasted rollers are not sexually dimorphic but males may be slightly larger than females. The average mass is 104 grams, and length ranges from 36 to 38 centimeters. These acrobatic fliers have an average wingspan range of 50 to 58 cm. Unique to rollers (Coraciidae family) are syndactyl feet, in which the second and third digits are fused.
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Wikipedia