The blue-bellied roller (''Coracias cyanogaster'') is a member of the

roller Roller may refer to: Birds *Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae * Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon Devices * Roller, an element of a rolling-element bearing * Roller, used in rolling (metalworking) * Roller, in a ...

family of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s which breeds across Africa in a narrow belt from Senegal to northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is resident, apart from some local seasonal movements, in mature moist savannah dominated by ''

Isoberlinia ''Isoberlinia'' is a genus in the family Fabaceae of five species of tree native to the hotter parts of tropical Africa. They are an important component of miombo woodlands. The leaves have three or four pairs of large leaflets and stout seed po ...

'' trees.

Taxonomy

The blue-bellied roller was given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Coracias cyanogaster'' in 1816 by the French naturalist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

based on "Le Rollier à ventre bleu" that had been described and illustrated by François Levaillant in 1806. The specific epithet combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''kuanos'' meaning "dark-blue" with ''gastēr'' meaning "belly". Levaillant mistaken believed that the specimen had been collected on the island of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. The species is resident in West-Africa and the type location was later designated as Senegal. The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

: no

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised.

Description

The blue-bellied roller is a large bird, nearly the size of a

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens ('' Corvus''). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler.Madge & Burn (1994) 136� ...

at . It has a very dark brown back, buffy or chalky white head, neck and breast, with the rest of the plumage mainly blue. Adults have tail streamers. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult. The blue-bellied roller is striking in its strong direct flight, with the brilliant blues of the wings contrasting with the dark back and cream colored head, and the tail streamers trailing behind. The call of blue-bellied roller is a harsh clicking ''ga-ga-ga'' sound. Blue-bellied Roller Coracias cyanogaster Fluffed 1500px

Blue-bellied Roller Coracias cyanogaster Fluffed 1500px

Distribution and habitat

This is a common bird of warm open country with some trees. These rollers often perch prominently on trees, posts, or overhead wires, like giant

shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known ...

s, whilst watching for the grasshoppers and other large insects on which they feed.

Behaviour and ecology

The display of this bird is a

lapwing Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (Family (biology), family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, ...

-like display, with the twists and turns that give this species its English name. It nests in a hole in a tree - a tree cavity.

Status

Widespread and common throughout its large range, the blue-bellied roller is evaluated as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

of Threatened Species.

In captivity

The blue-bellied roller is kept in some zoos, open air aviaries and similar educational facilities. There are instances of the bird escaping captivity and adjusting to the local environment. In Nepalganj area of

Joka, Kolkata Joka is a locality in South Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is a part of greater Behala region. This place is mostly known for Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and ESIC Medical College and Hospital. Administration Joka and part of Pail ...

, two blue-bellied rollers have been spotted since May 2023 that have adapted to the local environment.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q926693

blue-bellied roller The blue-bellied roller (''Coracias cyanogaster'') is a member of the Coraciidae, roller family of birds which breeds across Africa in a narrow belt from Senegal to northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is resident, apart from some loca ...

Birds of West Africa Birds of Central Africa