Racket-tailed Roller ( Coracias spatulatus, family: Coraciidae)

racket tailed roller kruger national park birds The Racket-tailed Roller (Latin name Coracias spatulatus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 448 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 170 also a picture of the Racket-tailed Roller on page 192. The Racket-tailed Roller belongs to the family of birds classified as Coraciidae.

The Robert's 7 Latin name for Racket-tailed Roller has changed from Coracias spatulata in Robert's 6 to Coracias spatulatus

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Racket-tailed Roller is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Racket-tailed Roller in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Racket-tailed Roller : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Racket-tailed Roller is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Racket-tailed Roller is about 30 cms and its weight is about 100 gms

The male and female Racket-tailed Roller have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is green, brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is azure.
  • Back is olive.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Racket-tailed Roller feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Racket-tailed Roller is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Coracias spatulatus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Racket-tailed Roller is to create the nest in a hole in a tree trunk. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 3

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Racket-tailed Roller are: woodlands

You will not see Racket-tailed Roller in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Knopsterttroupant

German ... Spatelracke

Portuguese ... Rolieiro-cauda-de-raquete

French ... Rollier raquettes

Dutch ... Vlagstaartscharrelaar

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 448

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za