Lilac-breasted Roller
It has a varied diet
This is a highly colourful bird, which owes its French and Dutch names to the two long feathers at the end of its tail. Whereas its English name refers to the lilac plumage of its chest.
Living in sparse forest areas and on savannahs with sparse tree-growth, the Lilac-Breasted Roller has a very varied diet.
Perched on a branch or any other kind of perch, it keeps an attentive eye on the ground in order to discover its prey: insects, small reptiles or amphibians, even little rodents, on which it swoops down to catch and swallow them.
This is a noisy bird, especially the male when performing its courtship parade, uttering dissonant cries while doing, in flight, somersaults and other aerobatics at high speed. The species is common and therefore not threatened.
A less threatened species
- Name : Lilac-breasted Roller
- Latin name : Coracias caudata
- Origin : East Africa, from Ethiopia as far as Southern Africa
- IUCN status : Least concerned
- Cites : Appendix II
