Rollers
The Rollers are an Old World (Europa, Asia, and Africa) family of resembles crows in size and build, but are more closely related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters. They share the colourful appearance of those groups, blues and browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one.
These are insect eaters, usually catching their prey in the air. They often perch prominently whilst hunting, like giant shrikes. The group gets its name from the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform.
These are birds of warm climates. They nest in an unlined tree-hole, and lay 2-4 eggs.
The eleven species are:
Genus Coracias
- European Roller Coracias garrulus
- Abyssinian Roller Coracias abyssinica
- Lilac-breasted Roller Coracias caudata : The Lilac-breasted Roller is a member of the roller family of birds
- Racquet-tailed Roller Coracias spatulata
- Rufous-crowned Roller Coracias noevia
- Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis
- Temminck's Roller Coracias temminckii
- Blue-bellied Roller Coracias cyanogaster
Genus Eurystomus: Eurystomus is a genus of the roller family of birds. It contains four broad-billed species, which breeds in Africa, Asia and Australasia.
- Broad-billed Roller Eurystomus glaucurus
- Blue-throated Roller Eurystomus gularis
- Azure Roller Eurystomus azureus
- Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis : AKA Broad-billed Roller. Roller from its habit of somersaulting in mid-air.' Its scientific name: Eurystomus orientalis, comes from the Greek, 'eurys', wide, 'stoma', mouth; and from the Latin, 'orientalis', eastern = Eastern Wide-mouth. The Dollarbird, also known as the Dollar Roller, is a bird of the roller family, so named because of the silver-dollar sized spots on its wings. It has a length of up to 30cm, and can be found in East Asia, from northern Australia to the Japanese archipelago.The bird is an insectivore with a love of beetles and often catches prey whilst flying. The young birds have a darker beak which becomes more orange as it becomes mature.
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