Lilac-breasted Roller - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Mybs
Location: Kgalagadi Transfrontier park, South Africa (1,200 km's NW of Cape Town) in Dec. 2004

Coracias caudatus

Coracias caudata

Identification

14.5 inches. Green head, greenish yellow legs. The beak is strong, arched and hooked-tipped. Brown back, shoulder of the wing, outer webs of flight feathers and rump are violet. Outer tail feathers are elongated and blackish. The chin is white, shading to rich lilac of the breast. The underparts are green blue. The bill is black and the eyes are brown.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula.

Taxonomy

Coracias caudatus has two subspecies:^[1]

• C. c. caudatus

• Southern and eastern Africa north to Uganda and Kenya

• C. c. lorti: has less lilac on the breast than caudatus

• Ethiopia south to Lake Turkana, Somalia and north-eastern Kenya

Habitat

Open woodland and savanna.

Behaviour

Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2-4 eggs is laid, and incubated by both parents.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

External Links

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