Alternative name: Purple Roller
- Coracias naevius
Coracias naevia, Coracias noevius
Identification
35–40 cm (13¾ in)
- Pinkish-rufous crown and nape
- White supercilium
- Olive-green back
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa:
Western Africa: Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Zaire
Eastern Africa: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Coracias naevius has two subspecies[1]:
- C. n. naevius:
- Senegambia to Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Tanzania
- C. n. mosambicus:
- Angola and Namibia to Zambia and northern South Africa
Habitat
Dry thornveld, open savanna with large well spaced trees, rocky hillsides.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of both large and small insects such as locusts, spiders, beetles, ants, scorpions and small lizards.
Breeding
They build their nests in trees or old woodpecker holes. The clutch consists of 3 white eggs; the young are fed by both parents.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2016)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Rufous-crowned Roller. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous-crowned_Roller
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
