Blue-throated Roller - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Mark Harper
Bobiri Butterfly Reserve, Ghana, April 2010

Eurystomus gularis

Identification

25 (9¾ in)

• Rufous-chestnut overall plumage
• Yellow bill
• Purplish-blue chin patch

Distribution

Africa:
Western Africa: Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, DRC, Angola
Eastern Africa: Uganda
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands, Bioko (Fernando Po)

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies:

• E. g. gularis::*

• Rainforests of Guinea and western Cameroon

• E. g. neglectus:

• Southern Nigeria to Uganda and Angola

Habitat

They live in secondary, or disturbed, lowland rainforest.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet consists mostly of insects taken in flight. Prey items are mostly ants, with some beetles.

Breeding

The nest is in an unlined tree-hole. The clutch of 2-4 eggs are incubated for 17-20 days. The young fledge after approximately another 30 days.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2019)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue-throated Roller. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-throated_Roller

External Links

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