Broad-billed Roller - BirdForum Opus

Photo by mikemik
Lower Zambezi, Zambia, November 2006

Eurystomus glaucurus

Identification

29-30 cm

• Brown back and head
• Lilac foreneck and breast
• Pink-brown underparts
• Blue in wings
• Bright yellow broad bill
  

Sexes similar
Juvenile: drabber; pale breast

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa
Western Africa: Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, DRC, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, eSwatini
African Islands: Madagascar

Juvenile
Photo by 400mark
The Gambia, November 2004

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Eurystomus glaucurus has four subspecies^[1]:

• E. g. afer:

• Senegal to Sudan, coastal west Africa and northern Zaire

• E. g. aethiopicus:

• Sudan and western Ethiopia

• E. g. suahelicus:

• Southern Somalia to central Zaire, north-eastern Zambia, Angola and Natal

• E. g. glaucurus:

• Madagascar; non-breeding migrant to eastern Africa

E. g. aethiopicus is, however, generally considered invalid and a fifth subspecies pulcherrimus is not recognised by all authorities^[1].

Photo by rdavis
Near Xigera Camp, central Okavango Delta, Botswana, November 2011

Habitat

Forest edges, wet woodland, open scrub and large gardens.

Behaviour

Its preferred perch is in the top of very tall trees.

Diet

The diet includes ants, termites and flying insects, which are sometimes hawked at other times caught by sallies from a favoured perch.

Breeding

They nest in an unlined hole in a tree cavity. The clutch consists of 2-3 eggs.

Vocalisation

Call: k-k-k-k-k-r-r-r-r-r.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2023) Broad-billed Roller. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 November 2023 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Broad-billed_Roller

External Links

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