Purple Roller (Coracias naevius) [XC719046]
by Dries Van de Loock from Bawku West, Upper East Region, Ghana (call)
Purple Roller (Coracias naevius) [XC796937]
by James Lidster from Lake Baringo, Kenya (call)
Subspecies
Relationships uncertain. No obvious close allies. Species name frequently given as feminine, naevia, as in original description, but genus is masculine. Original spelling of species name actually appears to be "noevia", but appearance of diphthongs varies with original typescripts, and evidence from this same work indicates author's intended name to have been "naevia".
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
naevius Daudin, 1800 - Senegal east to Somalia, and south to Tanzania.
mosambicus Dresser, 1890 - Angola and Namibia east to Zambia, southern Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa (northern Natal).