Dollarbird
Eurystomus orientalis
Heavily built, flat-headed dark blue bird with a short bright red bill. In flight has a characteristic white circle, or ‘dollar’, on each underwing. Juvenile lacks red bill. May resemble mynas in flight, but note longer wings, larger head, and more powerful, less frantic flight. Nests in cavities; typically tree hollows. Frequently perches on power-lines or in the tops of tall dead trees.
Identification
The oriental dollarbird has a length of up to 30 cm. It is dark brown but this is heavily washed with a bluish-green sheen on the back and wing coverts. Its belly and undertail coverts are light coloured, and it has glossy bright blue colouring on its throat and undertail. Its flight feathers are a darker blue. Its bill is short and wide and in mature animals is coloured orange-red with a black tip. It has very light blue patches on the outer parts of its wings which are highly visible in flight and for which it is named. The females are slightly duller than the males but overall the two are very similar. Immature birds are much duller than the adults and do not have the blue colouring on their throats. They also have brown bills and feet instead of the red of the adults.
Taxonomy
The Oriental dollarbird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Coracias orientalis. Linnaeus based his description on "Le Rollier des Indes" that had been described and illustrated by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The type locality is the island of Java in Indonesia. The Oriental dollarbird is now placed in the genus Eurystomus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.<p>A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the azure dollarbird (Eurystomus azureus) was nested in a clade containing subspecies of the Oriental dollarbird. Formerly, some authorities have also considered the broad-billed roller and the azure dollarbird to have been subspecies of the oriental dollarbird. The generic name derives from Ancient Greek eurustomos 'wide-mouthed' and the specific epithet is Latin orientalis 'eastern'. Alternate names for the oriental dollarbird include the Asian dollarbird, dark roller, dollar roller, dollarbird, eastern broad-billed roller and oriental broad-billed roller.<p>Ten subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Eurystomus orientalis
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Coraciidae
- Genus
- Eurystomus
Range and habitat
The oriental dollarbird is found from Australia to Japan and India. It breeds in northern and eastern Australia between the months of September and April and winters in New Guinea and nearby islands. The birds prefer open wooded areas with hollow-bearing trees to build nests in.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The oriental dollarbird is most commonly seen singly with a distinctive upright silhouette on a bare branch high in a tree, from which it hawks for insects, returning to the same perch after a few seconds.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Austral Blackbird
Curaeus curaeus
Distinctive but understated, this wholly glossy blackbird with a rather long, sharply pointed bill occurs in a wide range of mainly open habitats, from town parks and farmland with hedges and bushes to mattorral scrub and open forest. Feeds on the ground, at flowers, and in trees on fruit, often in small flocks. Voice is highly varied, sometimes loud, and can draw attention. Fairly common in central Chile, becoming uncommon farther south and in Argentina. Compare with cowbirds, which are smaller with shorter bills.
Bennett's Woodpecker
Campethera bennettii
A medium-sized woodpecker with spotted rather than streaked or barred underparts. The male has unmarked white cheeks and throat, and red moustachial streaks and crown, while the female has a distinctive brown throat, cheek, and eye-stripes. Pairs and small groups avoid drier scrub, preferring mature broadleaved woodland, foraging for ants, termites and their larvae, mostly on the ground. The similar Reichenow’s Woodpecker differs from Bennett’s Woodpecker by being smaller, having a diagnostic speckled throat and less bold facial pattern.
Red-faced Guan
Penelope dabbenei
Mostly arboreal guan endemic to the semi-humid forest with Podocarpus and alders of the mid-elevation east Andes in southern Bolivia and northeast Argentina. Often in ravines and river basins. The sympatric Dusky-legged Guan is more common, but shows grayish-blue skin around the eye. Tends to perch high in trees, singly or in pairs, and often found by far-carrying vocalizations given from high in trees. Note pale supercilium, dull pinkish legs, exposed red orbital skin and wattle.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.