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Rufous-crowned Roller - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Purple Roller

Photo by d.flack
Gambia, November 2016
Coracias naevius

Coracias naevia, Coracias noevius

Identification

35–40 cm (13¾ in)

  • Pinkish-rufous crown and nape
  • White supercilium
  • Olive-green back

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa:
Western Africa: Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Zaire
Eastern Africa: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Coracias naevius has two subspecies[1]:

  • C. n. naevius:
  • C. n. mosambicus:

Habitat

Dry thornveld, open savanna with large well spaced trees, rocky hillsides.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of both large and small insects such as locusts, spiders, beetles, ants, scorpions and small lizards.

Breeding

They build their nests in trees or old woodpecker holes. The clutch consists of 3 white eggs; the young are fed by both parents.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2016)

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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