Broad-billed Roller
Eurystomus glaucurus
A small, dark, rufous-cinnamon roller with a chunky yellow bill. In flight it resembles a small falcon, but note its deep wingbeats and undulating flight. Pairs are partial migrants with complex movements; found within savanna, broadleaved woodland, riverine forest, and rainforest edge. It sits on tall bare snags and prefers to hawk insects above the canopy. Its distinctive calls include harsh, scratchy “grrrrrr” and “k-weeek, k-weeek” notes. The similar Blue-throated Roller is smaller, has a blue throat, and is browner under the tail.
Identification
The broad-billed roller is 29–30 cm in length. It has a warm back and head, lilac foreneck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly brown. The broad bill is bright yellow. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult, with a pale breast.The broad-billed roller is striking in its strong direct flight, with the brilliant blues of the wings and tail contrasting with the brown back.<p>The call of the broad-billed roller is a snarling k-k-k-k-k-r-r-r-r-r sound.
Taxonomy
The broad-billed roller was formally described in 1776 by the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller under the binomial name Coracias glaucurus. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek glaukos meaning "blue-grey". Statius Müller based his brief description on "Le Rollier de Madagascar" that had been described in 1775 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and illustrated by Edme-Louis Daubenton. The type locality is Madagascar. The broad-billed roller is now placed in the genus Eurystomus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the broad-billed roller was most closely related to the blue-throated roller (Eurystomus gularis). Alternate names for the broad-billed roller include the African broad-billed roller and the cinnamon roller.<p>Four subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Eurystomus glaucurus
- Authority
- (Müller, PLS, 1776)
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Coraciidae
- Genus
- Eurystomus
Range and habitat
This is a species of open woodland with some tall trees, preferably near water. These rollers often perch prominently on trees, posts or overhead wires, like giant shrikes.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Australian Painted-Snipe
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Cryptic wader with long, slightly decurved greenish-yellow bill. Bright white underparts, dark brown head and neck, and streaked olive upperparts, with distinctive curved white line extending from breast through the back. Nomadic, with unpredictable movements, so may turn up in a wide variety of wetland habitats, typically shallow wetlands with surrounding vegetation. Most likely to be observed in early morning, in late evening, or at night.
Coopmans's Elaenia
Elaenia brachyptera
Drab and confusing flycatcher found in lightly-wooded areas at lower elevations of the Andes. Its range is mostly confined to Ecuador, but it also occurs in southwestern Colombia. Plumage is grayish-brown with pale wingbars and yellowish belly. Head feathers are sometimes raised to form a small crest that may show some white. Smaller than Yellow-bellied Elaenia, and usually not as bright yellow below as Sierran Elaenia. Commonly heard calls include an abrupt whistle, a short churr, and a rattling trill; however, other elaenias have similar vocalizations.
Lesser Roadrunner
Geococcyx velox
Slightly smaller version of the familiar cartoon Greater Roadrunner, but usually the two species do not occur in the same places. Favors dry brushy woodland and overgrown weedy fields in tropical lowlands and foothills. Can be very elusive, but at other times runs out in the road or sits quietly sunning itself on a fence post or bush top in the early morning. Note that the center of the throat and breast are plain rich buffy, without the dense dark streaking of Greater Roadrunner.
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