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Lilac-breasted Roller
Coracias caudatus
Migration Flyway
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About the Lilac-breasted Roller
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. 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. 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.
Source: Wikipedia
Classification
- Scientific name
- Coracias caudatus
- Family
- Rollers
- Order
- Coraciiformes
Similar species
Other members of the rollers family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.
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Optics
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