Lilac-breasted Roller

Overview

The lilac-breasted roller is a robust, large-headed African bird of the roller family that is widely distributed across Southern and Eastern Africa. It is often perched alone in grassy clearings and is unofficially considered the national bird of Kenya.

Identification

• Robust, large-headed body with an average mass of 104 grams and length of 36 to 38 centimetres, including long black outermost tail streamers in adults.
• Colourful plumage featuring a lilac throat that deepens to a darker lilac breast, an olive crown to mantle, and lilac-rufous cheeks and ear coverts.
• Harsh, sawing vocalisation described as 'rak rak rak' during flight, or a raucous 'kaaa, kaarsh' during courtship displays.
• Unique syndactyl feet where the second and third digits are fused.

Habitat

Found throughout eastern and southern Africa, from the Red Sea coast of Eritrea to southern Africa, including regions in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and northeastern South Africa. They prefer open savannah habitats with scattered trees and shrubs, as they require higher perches for feeding and nesting, and are largely absent from treeless places.

Diet

The diet consists of arthropods and small vertebrates, including ground-dwelling insects, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, snails, and small birds. They forage by perching at high vantage points, such as tree tops or the backs of large herbivorous mammals, before swooping down to grab prey with their beaks.

Did you know?

These birds are extremely aggressive in defence of their nests, taking on raptors and other birds to protect the clutch of eggs incubated in a natural hole in a tree.