Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Coraciidae
Genus: Coracia
Species: C. cyanogaster
Identification
Rollers are stocky treetop birds that have large heads, hooked beaks, and short legs. Their colors tend to be beautiful shades of blue, purple, and russet—especially their spread wings and tail. Rollers are named for the aerial “rolling” during courtships and territorial display.
Head to upper mantle and chest apricot glossed with pinkish and greenish; mantle and scapulars brownish black glossed with green; wings, rump and breast to under tail coverts dark blue; basal half of flight feathers , under wing coverts, tail pale blue; outer tail feathers elongated. Sexes are alike. They have a rapid, dry voice like “ga-ga-gaa-ga”.
Habitat
Senegal and Gambia to Sudan. A variety of habitat, including wooded savannah, forest edges, plantations, burnt-over clearings, woods near marshes, and streams.