Racket-tailed roller

Physical features

The racquet-tailed roller is a blue and brown bird with a bright blue underside. Its wings are tipped in black.
The feet are syndactyl, with 3 toes fused and pointing forward and 1 toe pointing backward.
Related to kingfishers, racquet-tailed rollers have strong, black beaks.

Range – Africa, south of the Saharan Desert (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
Habitat – Undisturbed sub-tropical deciduous forests, savanna

Wild – little is known about its complete diet, but the following insects are known to be consumed: grasshoppers, beetles, fly maggots, cicadas.
Zoo – meat, bugs

It is thought to be a cooperative breeder, which means that non-breeding adults stay with breeding pairs and can assist in raising chicks.
Breeding occurs from September to December with a peak in October at which point 2-3 eggs are laid.
Nesting occurs in natural or excavated crevices approximately 6 to 7 meters off the ground. This species probably does not create its own cavities, preferring ones that were excavated by large woodpeckers.

Major threats: loss of habitat; however, they have a wide range, so loss of habitat is not thought to affect the species much yet.

(Coracias spatulatus) Racket-tailed Roller. In: Biodiversity Explorer: The Web of Life in Southern Africa. Iziko Museums of Cape Town. <http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/coraciidae/coracias_spatulatus.htm>. Downloaded 06 July 2010.
BirdLife International 2009. Coracias spatulatus. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 July 2010.
Roller. In: Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller> Downloaded 06 July 2010.

Updated July 2010