Alternative name: Rufous-crowned Roller;
disambiguation: Azure Roller (Eurystomus azureus) has also been named Purple Roller in the past
- 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
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- C. n. naevius:
- Senegambia to Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Tanzania
- C. n. mosambicus:
- Angola and Namibia to Zambia and northern South Africa
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 as well as 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
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2016)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Purple Roller. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 February 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Purple_Roller
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
