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coracias spatulata large size here
this beautiful guy hails from southeastern africa, angola and zimbabwe. his "roller" name comes from his aerobatics during courtship and territorial display.
i love the bokeh background on this. the wire mesh in the aviary was fine enough to pick up some repeating highlights in the morning sun
Racket-tailed Roller
Habitat: Southwest-central Angola to northeast Tanzania and south through Mosambique. Southern Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Sparsely distributed in dry, open woodland.
Length: 16 inches.
Migration: Non-migrant.
Nest: An unlined cavity in a tree trunk or branch.
Voice: Loud, very harsh repeated "cha" or "tchek". An explosive screeching in rolling display flight.
Notes: 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 the spread wings and tail. Rollers are named for the aerial "rolling" during courtships and territorial display.
The racket-tailed roller eats a diet of insects, such as flying ants and termites, grasshoppers, and crickets as well as centipedes and scorpions.
Rollers occur singly or in pairs, groups of 6-7 are sometimes seen. They scan the ground from a perch then swooop down to the ground to catch and eat prey.
Now that I look back at it, I should have used a little higher F-stop to get a larger depth of field so the tennis balls in the background would show up a little more....but at least they aren't distracting.
Knopstert Troupant
(Coracias spatulatus)
The racket-tailed roller (Coracias spatulatus) is a species of bird in the family Coraciidae. It is found in southern Africa from Angola, south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Tanzania to northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique.
The racket-tailed roller is so named for the conspicuous elongated outer feathers on its tail which have long streamers ending in paddle-shaped tips. The bird is 28 to 30 cm (11 to 12 in) long with the streamers extending another 8 cm (3 in). The forehead and superciliary streak are white, the crown dull green, the back rufous and the tail blue. The underparts are pale blue with whitish streaking. In flight, the purple upper wing with its azure-blue stripe can be seen. The under wing is pale blue with a purplish-black trailing edge and tip. The bird somewhat resembles the European roller (Coracias garrulus) and the lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus), but those species lack the distinctive tail streamers. The beak is black, the eye brownish and the legs are dull yellowish. The juvenile is similar to the adult but less vivid, and lacks the attenuated tail feathers. The voice is a harsh guttural shriek, uttered as it swoops down.
Similar to other members of Coracias, this species hunts for prey from a perch in the mid-storey region of woodland. When it spots something edible on the forest floor it swoops down to grab the prey. The diet consists mainly of grasshoppers, beetles, insect larvae, scorpions and small lizards. This roller is usually a solitary bird or occurs in pairs, but may form small groups of six or seven birds. It is a territorial species, driving away intruders by rocketing from a height with a raucous screech, rolling from side to side as it levels off, before using its momentum to rise to a perch. It nests in a cavity in a tree trunk or branch about 7 m (23 ft) off the ground, often using a disused nest of a woodpecker or barbet. The clutch is laid in the unlined cavity and usually consists of three or four eggs, but little is known of the nesting habits of this species.
C. spatulatus is a fairly common species with a very wide range. The population trend is thought to be declining because of loss of the forest habitat, especially miombo and mopane woodland. However, no particular threats have been identified and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the bird's conservation status as being of "least concern".
Wikipedia
SHe's wearing a 1960's hat, and a candy stripe dress.
Woohoo.
Alot of people tell me this photo looks like it came out of vogue.
I wish.