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Rufous-crowned Roller
Coracias naevius
9.74154, 6.75659
Field Notes
Description:
Also known as Purple Roller, this is the biggest of rollers, growing up to 40 cm in length. Some books and Wikipedia describe this beautiful bird as dull in colour, to which I disagree completely... Predominant colour of the body is pink brown, with greenish shine on wing covers and blue-green tail. The chest is heavily streaked in white. The crown is rufous, with a white line on front and a black line extending behind the eye.
Habitat:
The species is widespread in all sub-Saharan Africa (except in tropical forests), as it looks for dryland savanna, rocky terrains and broadleaved woodlands. Here, observed in such area, mainly savanna and woodland bordering the road in Niger State of Nigeria.
Notes:
The bird pictured here belong to a nominate race, ssp naevius, which is also called Lilac-throated Roller (not to be confused with famous Lilac-breasted). This race is a common resident in Sahel belt down to Equator, while the subspecies mosambiqus occupies the southern Africa. Population is not in danger, even though is declining.
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