Lilac Breasted Rollers: Elegant Rainbows in the sky
By Matt Harvey
Key Points
- The Lilac Breasted Roller is known for its vibrant colors, including green, lilac, blue, and black, making it a favorite for photographers.
- Research suggests they exhibit territorial behaviors, often seen alone or in pairs, with monogamous mating habits.
- It seems likely that their diet includes insects like beetles and grasshoppers, as well as small vertebrates like lizards.
- The evidence leans toward them being active hunters, perching high to spot prey before swooping down.
- Fun facts include it being Kenya’s national bird and having a life expectancy of about 10 years in the wild.
Colors
The Lilac Breasted Roller boasts a stunning array of colors, with a green head and back, lilac-rufous cheeks, and a lilac throat and breast. Its wings are brilliant azure with black and dark purple-blue flight feathers, and adults have long black tail streamers. Juveniles show reddish-brown throats and breasts, turning lilac as they mature, with turquoise feathers on upper legs and bare, scaly, yellowish lower legs and feet.
Behaviors and Social Skills
These birds are typically found alone or in pairs, reflecting their monogamous and territorial nature. They perch at high points like tree tops to spot prey, and during breeding, males perform dramatic aerial displays, rising high and diving with loud cries. They nest in tree holes or termite mounds, with both parents defending the nest and caring for 2-4 eggs, which hatch after 22-24 days.
Diet
Their diet is diverse, primarily consisting of arthropods like insects (beetles, grasshoppers), spiders, scorpions, and snails, as well as small vertebrates such as lizards, chameleons, snakes, and small birds. They hunt by perching and swooping down, often taking advantage of brush fires to catch fleeing prey.
Fun Facts
The Lilac Breasted Roller is unofficially Kenya’s national bird, also considered a symbol of peace in African folklore, used in marriage traditions. It weighs about 104 grams, has a 36-38 cm length including tail, and a 50-58 cm wingspan. They live around 10 years in the wild, breed at two years, and are known to perch on large mammals for hunting.
Survey Note: Detailed Insights on the Lilac Breasted Roller
The Lilac Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) is a captivating African bird, renowned for its vibrant plumage and dynamic behaviors, making it a prime subject for photographers and birdwatchers. This survey note provides a comprehensive overview, drawing from multiple reliable sources to ensure accuracy and depth, particularly relevant for enthusiasts like those at One Toad Photography.
Appearance and Colors
The Lilac Breasted Roller is a visual spectacle, with approximately 8 to 12 distinct colors across its body, earning it nicknames like “rainbow roller.” Its head and mantle are olive green in the subspecies C. c. caudatus, or greenish blue in C. c. lorti, with lilac-rufous cheeks and ear coverts. The throat is a delicate lilac, shading to a darker lilac breast in C. c. caudatus, or azure in C. c. lorti, while juveniles exhibit rufous-tawny breasts with buffy-white streaks. The wings feature a brilliant azure proximal half, with the distal half black on the inner web and dark purple-blue on the outer webs, complemented by a dark blue alula feather. Adults have long black tail streamers, absent in juveniles, and the lower abdomen may show a lilac patch or rufous-brown tinges. Upper legs are turquoise, with bare, scaly, yellowish lower legs and feet, enhancing its kaleidoscopic appearance.
Behaviors
Lilac Breasted Rollers are diurnal, strong, and swift fliers, often perching at the tops of trees, poles, or telephone wires to scout for prey, making them excellent subjects for photography. They prefer open woodlands, savannas, and bushy game lands, avoiding urban and rural areas, and are non-migratory, with subspecies C. c. caudatus found from central Kenya to northern South Africa, and C. c. lorti migrating between Eritrea and Somalia from April to September. Their breeding display is particularly striking, with males rising 69-144 meters, then descending in swoops and dives, rolling side to side, and emitting harsh cries like “rak rak rak,” compared to a steam train noise. Nesting occurs in natural tree holes, termite mounds, or abandoned woodpecker/kingfisher nests, with both parents incubating 2-4 eggs for 22-24 days. Hatchlings are altricial, fully feathered after 19 days, and remain with parents for another month. They are fiercely territorial, defending nests against raptors and rivals by thrusting and clawing, and are known to frequent road verges during brush fires to hunt fleeing prey, perching on large herbivorous mammals like giraffes for better vantage points.
Social Skills and Mating
Research suggests Lilac Breasted Rollers are usually found alone or in pairs, indicative of their monogamous nature, with some sources suggesting they mate for life, a belief reflected in African marriage traditions like Zulu feathery chains and Venda wedding rings. They may form small family groups during winter but are generally solitary outside breeding season. Both parents share nest defense and chick-rearing duties, with chicks needing 19 days to grow feathers fully and staying with parents for an additional month, laying one clutch per year. While not particularly friendly, they do not fear humans, often allowing close approaches for photography, enhancing their appeal for wildlife photographers.
Diet and Hunting
The diet is carnivorous, primarily consisting of arthropods such as insects (beetles, grasshoppers), spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, and snails, alongside small vertebrates like lizards, chameleons, snakes (e.g., Afrotyphlops, Leptotyphlops), and small birds. They hunt by perching high, scanning for movement, then swooping down to capture prey, beating larger items on a perch to dismember before swallowing whole. Their opportunistic behavior near brush fires highlights their adaptability, perching on road verges to catch fleeing insects, a behavior that can be captured in dynamic photographs.
Fun and Informative Facts
The Lilac Breasted Roller holds cultural significance, unofficially considered Kenya’s national bird (shared with the rooster) and sometimes Botswana’s, symbolizing peace in folklore. It has alternative names like fork-tailed roller, lilac-throated roller, and Mosilikatze’s roller, with various names in French, Dutch, German, Italian, and Spanish. Physically, it averages 104 grams in weight, 36-38 cm in length (including 8-9 cm tail streamer), and a 50-58 cm wingspan, with a life expectancy of about 10 years in the wild, though captive birds live longer, breeding at two years old. Its unique feet are syndactyl, with the second and third digits fused, and it ranges from sea level to 2,000 meters above sea level across eastern and southern Africa, vagrant to the Arabian Peninsula (Eritrea, Oman, Yemen). The IUCN lists it as least concern, with a stable population, and it avoids urban areas, preferring natural habitats.
Photography Tips for Enthusiasts
For photographers, the Lilac Breasted Roller’s frequent perching on telephone wires or tree tops, often singly or in pairs, provides excellent opportunities for capturing its vibrant colors and dynamic behaviors. Their aerial displays during breeding season, especially the rolling dives, offer dynamic shots, while their hunting near brush fires can be observed from a distance. Their willingness to perch in well-lit, open areas makes them ideal for high-quality images, aligning with the interests of One Toad Photography.
Summary Table of Key Characteristics
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Colors | Green, lilac, blue, black, turquoise, reddish-brown, with long black tail streamers in adults. |
| Behaviors | Perches high, performs aerial displays, nests in tree holes, territorial and non-migratory. |
| Social Skills | Monogamous, usually alone or in pairs, defends nest aggressively. |
| Diet | Insects, spiders, scorpions, small vertebrates like lizards and birds. |
| Fun Facts | Kenya’s national bird, life expectancy ~10 years, symbol of peace in folklore. |
This detailed survey ensures a comprehensive understanding, catering to both general interest and specific photographic pursuits, enhancing appreciation for this remarkable bird.
Key Citations
