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Coraciidae

(Family)

Overview

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The rollers are an family, Coraciidae, of near passerine birds related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters. The group gets its name from the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform during courtship or territorial flights1].

Rollers resemble crows in size and build, ranging from 25 to 27 centimetres in length. They share the colorful appearance of kingfishers and bee-eaters, blues and pinkish or cinnamon browns predominating.[2] The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one. Their calls are "repeated short, gruff caws"[2].

They are insect eaters, with Eurystomus species taking their prey on the wing, and those of the genus Coracias catching it on the ground.[2] They often perch prominently whilst hunting, like giant shrikes.

These are birds of warm climates. They are monogamous and nest in an unlined hole in a tree or in masonry, and lay 2–4 eggs in the tropics, 3–6 at higher latitudes. The eggs, which are white, hatch after 17–20 days, and the young remain in the nest for approximately another 30 days.[1][2]

Morphology and Appearance

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The rollers are similar in general morphology to their relatives in the order Coraciiformes, having large heads on short necks, bright plum age, weak feet and short legs. The weakness of the feet and legs is relfected in their behaviour, rollers do not hop or move along perches and seldom use their feet other than for occasional lurching leaps along the ground pursing escaping prey. The bill is robust, and is shorter yet broader in the genus Eurystomus, sometimes known as the broad-billed rollers. The broad-billed rollers have brightly colored bills, whereas those of the Coracias (or true) rollers are black. Other differences between the two genera are in wing length; the more aerial Eurystomus rollers have longer wings (and shorter feet still) than the Coracias rollers, this reflects differences in their foraging ecology.[3]

Species

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The eleven species are:

Photos

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Taxonomy

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The Family Coraciidae is a member of the Superfamily Coracioidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Coraciidae:

The Family Coraciidae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

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Coracias

Coracias is a of the rollers, an Old World family of near passerine birds related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters. They share the colorful appearance of those groups, blues and browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one. [more]

Eurystomus

Eurystomus is a of the roller, one of the two genera in that family of birds. It contains four broad-billed species, which breed in Africa, Asia and Australasia. Two species are restricted to Africa, one of which, the Cinnamon Roller, is migratory. The Dollarbird has a large distribution ranging from India to Japan and Australia. It too is migratory over the northern and southern extremes of its range. The final species, the Azure Roller, is endemic to Moluccas in Indonesia. In general they are open country foragers, occurring in woodland, savanna and farmland. Two species, the Azure Roller and the Cinnamon Roller are associated with rainforests but nevertheless require open areas in which to forage. [more]

Eurytomus

[more]

More info about the Genus Eurytomus may be found here.

References

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  1. ^ a b Forshaw, J. & Kemp, A. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 145–147. ISBN 1-85391-186-0. 
  2. ^ a b c d Fry, C. Hilary (2003). "Rollers". in Perrins, Christopher. The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books. pp. 380–381. ISBN 1-55297-777-3. 
  3. ^ Fry, C (2001), "Family Coraciidae (Rollers)", in del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi, Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 6, Mousebirds to Hornbills, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 342-369, ISBN 978-84-87334-30-6 

Sources

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Last Revised: January 24, 2010
2010/01/24 02:16:46