Blue-bellied Roller
Coracias cyanogaster
Chunky, distinctive, beautiful roller with long outer tail feathers. The body is mostly dark blue with a pale-gray hood. In flight, shows broad lines of pale blue across the middle of the wings. Found in broadleaf Guinea savanna, in human-created savanna, and along forest edge. Usually seen in pairs or small groups. The calls are dry cackles, usually given in a long bouncing series.
Identification
The blue-bellied roller is a large bird, nearly the size of a jackdaw at 28–30 cm (11–12 in). It has a very dark brown back, buffy or chalky white head, neck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly blue. Adults have 6 cm (2.4 in) tail streamers. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult.<p>The blue-bellied roller is striking in its strong direct flight, with the brilliant blues of the wings contrasting with the dark back and cream colored head, and the tail streamers trailing behind.<p>The call of blue-bellied roller is a harsh clicking ga-ga-ga sound.
Taxonomy
The blue-bellied roller was given the binomial name Coracias cyanogaster in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier based on "Le Rollier à ventre bleu" that had been described and illustrated by François Levaillant in 1806. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek kuanos meaning "dark-blue" with gastēr meaning "belly". Levaillant mistaken believed that the specimen had been collected on the island of Java. The species is resident in West-Africa and the type location was later designated as Senegal. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<p>The phylogenetic relationships among the Coracias species are shown below, from the molecular study by Johansson et al. (2018)
- Scientific name
- Coracias cyanogaster
- Authority
- Cuvier, 1816
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Coraciidae
- Genus
- Coracias
Range and habitat
This is a common bird of warm open country with some trees. These rollers often perch prominently on trees, posts, or overhead wires, like giant shrikes, whilst watching for the grasshoppers and other large insects on which they feed.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The display of this bird is a lapwing-like display, with the twists and turns that give this species its English name. It nests in a hole in a tree - a tree cavity.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Olive-backed Tanager
Mitrospingus oleagineus
A bulky bird of tepui highlands, often encountered in groups. Unlikely to be confused within its limited range; plumage mostly coppery-olive (may tend toward yellow in sunlight) with a contrasting gray face and throat. Stout bill is silvery gray. Occurs in canopy of tepui highland forest, generally above 800 m, where groups forage noisily through vegetation, probing into epiphytes and dead leaves and hopping clumsily along branches, eating whatever is in their path. Frequents fruiting trees, and may join mixed-species flocks but are just as likely to be found away from them. Most typical call is a dreadful high-pitched screech, modulated as if the bird is being squeezed, and sounding quite literally like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Scarlet Macaw
Ara macao
Spectacular, huge, and long-tailed parrot, wiped out from most areas by capture for the pet trade; attempts at reintroduction are taking place in some protected areas. Found very locally in lowland rainforest and adjacent semiopen areas with big trees; usually in pairs. Unmistakable, bright scarlet red overall with big yellow wing patches and mostly blue wings and rump. Calls are deep, throaty roars that carry long distances.
Fringe-backed Fire-eye
Pyriglena atra
Medium-sized antbird. Males are black with a large white patch on the back and females are brown overall, paler below, with grayish sides of the head. Inhabits the understory of humid forest, including the forest edge and light gaps, and also tall adjacent second growth. Regularly attends army-ant swarms. The song is a loud descending series of “peek” notes, and the call is a rattle.
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