Racket-tailed Roller
Coracias spatulatus
Woodland. Plain blue below; spatulate tail-shafts.
Rollers
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Uncommon visitor and resident. Identified by plain blue underparts (pink further north in Africa) and spatulate tips to the tail-shafts; cf. [African Pygmy Kingfisher] and [Half-collared Kingfisher]. immature lacks elongated tail-feathers and is more lilac on cheeks and sides of breast, but differs from immature of [Half-collared Kingfisher] in deep blue primary wing coverts (not greenish blue) and generally browner upper parts. Occurs singly or in pairs in well-developed, broad-leaved woodland. Unlike other rollers, often occurs in small parties and perches inconspicuously. Sparse and irregular south of the Limpopo River.
Quick Facts
Size
36 cm - M
Names
A: Knopsterttroupant
Ss: Letleretlere La Setonotjhitja
G: Spatelracke
Bird Family
Colourful, heavy-billed birds with brilliant blue wing-feathers and harsh, croaking voices. They spend much of the day still-hunting from a convenient perch, flying down to catch and eat large insects and other small prey on the ground. They breed in holes in trees (sometimes in holes in cliffs) and have active display flights, which involve violent aerial manoeuvres with much harsh calling.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Occurs singly or in pairs in well-developed, 'broad-leaved woodland'.
