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The diet of the lilac-breasted roller is primarily insectivorous, consisting of ground-dwelling insects, arthropods, amphibians, and other small vertebrates.
Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of 19,623 km2 in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends 360 km from north to south and 65 km from east to west.
South Africa, Kruger National Park
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Spotted this Roller while driving along and managed to stop and roll down the window and take this shot from my ‘mobile hide’ !!
Taken in Spain.
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Mara North Conservancy, Kenya
coracias caudatus
vorkstaartscharrelaar
rollier à longs brins
Gabelracke
Carraca Lila
Ghiandaia marina pettolilla
rolieiro-de-peito-lilás
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My second keeper of the morning. The Richmond Bridge just keeps giving. Nicknamed the roller coaster span do to the vertical undulation of the center section.
Shot with the Nikkor 200-500mm and processed in camera raw and Nik Color Efex Pro.
This is the Richmond - San Rafael Bridge, a double-decked dual cantilever bridge connecting Marin County and Contra Costa County along Interstate 580 in Northern California.
Lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) I try to avoid taking photos of this rather over photographed roller. But couldn't resist this!
The lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) is an African bird of the roller family, Coraciidae. It is widely distributed in Southern and Eastern Africa, and is a vagrant to the southern Arabian Peninsula.[1] It prefers open woodland and savanna, and it is for the most part absent from treeless places. Usually found alone or in pairs, it perches at the tops of trees, poles or other high vantage points from where it can spot insects, amphibians and small birds moving about on the ground.[2] Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2–4 eggs are laid, and incubated by both parents, who are extremely aggressive in defence of their nest, taking on raptors and other birds. During the breeding season the male will rise to a fair height (69 to 144 metres), descending in swoops and dives,[3] while uttering harsh, discordant cries. The sexes do not differ in coloration, and juveniles lack the long tail streamers of adults.
Saw this Roller perched in a tree as we were driving past. I pulled up by the side of the road but it was on the passenger side so I had to manoeuvre my camera past my wife and twist round into a position to take the shot. Lol.
It only posed long enough for this shot and then flew off!
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Lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus), an African member of the roller (or Coraciidae) family. Known to sit on prominent perches in open woodland and lightly-treed grasslands.
Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, Botswana.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
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Rollers often perch prominently on trees, posts or overhead wires, like giant shrikes, whilst watching for the large insects, small reptiles, rodents and frogs that they eat. The diet of adult rollers is dominated by beetles, whereas nestlings mostly eat Orthoptera, such as grasshoppers and bush crickets.
Wikipedia: The purple roller is the largest of the rollers, growing to a length of 35 to 40 cm (14 to 16 in). Adults weigh from 145 to 200 g (5.1 to 7.1 oz) with an average weight of 168 g (5.9 oz).[6] From a distance it appears a dull brownish bird with a white stripe over the eye, a patch of white on the nape and a dark tail. Northern populations tend to have a rufus crown while southern populations have a more olive-green crown. The underparts are purplish-pink streaked with white. The wings are long and rounded while the tail is square-cut.
Saw this Roller come in and land on this abandoned utility pole. These birds are easy to capture since they often perch for many minutes at a time not caring about folks like me busy clicking away from close. They choose prominent bare trees or wires from which they descend to the ground to capture prey which include insects, arachnids, small reptiles, small snakes and amphibians. The bird has many colours and is quite attractive. The subspecies "Indicus", as seen here, is found in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The southern form has a darker reddish collar on the hind neck.
Most birds in the roller family—so named for their acrobatic flying—live in the warm climates of Africa and the Middle East. But the European roller, spends half of its time in Europe. The bird migrates from as far as South Africa up into the Northern Hemisphere to places such as Bulgaria and other eastern and southern European locales, where it spends the mating season.
The Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) is a member of the near passerine bird family Coraciidae, the rollers. It occurs widely from West Asia to the Indian Subcontinent. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is best known for its aerobatic displays of males during the breeding season.(Wiki)
The lilac-breasted roller is found in savanna and open woodland across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.. Seen here in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
It’s easily spotted as it likes to perch conspicuously on top of high vantage points like trees and poles, looking for prey on the ground such as insects, scorpions, snails, and rodents. During mating seasons the males fly high to engage in huge dives and swoops whilst making loud calls. [credit SafarisAfricana]