Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)

Other Scientific Names
Coracias caudata [Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)], Coracias caudata [Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993)], Coracias caudata [BirdLife International (2004)]

Other Names (World)
Lilac-breasted Roller, Lilac-throated Roller (lorti)

Family
Coraciidae (Rollers)

Size
40 cm

First Described (Guide)
Linnaeus, 1766

Habitat
Dry savanna.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Eritrea, Oman.

From Ethiopia through eastern Africa and Angola into northern South Africa.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (57)...)

Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) [XC451508]
by Frank Lambert from Shaba National Reserve, Kenya, Kenya (call)

Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) [XC877034]
by Marc Anderson from Manyeleti Game Reserve, South Africa (call)

Nest
A cavity in a dead tree or termite mound, up to 3 - 5 m above the ground.

Subspecies
Often regarded as forming a superspecies with Abyssinian Roller (Coracias abyssinicus) and European Roller (Coracias garrulus), though probably more closely allied to Abyssinian Roller (Coracias abyssinicus).

The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

lorti Shelley, 1885 - Eritrea south to Somalia and north-eastern Kenya.
caudatus Linnaeus, 1766 - Angola east to central and eastern Kenya, south to Namibia and northern South Africa.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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