Broad-billed Roller ( Eurystomus glaucurus, family: Coraciidae)

broad billed roller kruger national park birds The Broad-billed Roller (Latin name Eurystomus glaucurus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 450 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 172 also a picture of the Broad-billed Roller on page 192. The Broad-billed Roller belongs to the family of birds classified as Coraciidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Broad-billed Roller is also known by these other names: Cinnamon Roller, African Broad-billed Roller.

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 Broad-billed Roller is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a rare summer resident

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

The Broad-billed Roller.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Broad-billed Roller is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Broad-billed Roller is about 30 cms and its weight is about 105 gms

The male and female Broad-billed Roller have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is cinnamon.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is yellow.
  • Throat is lilac.
  • Back is cinnamon.
  • Legs are green.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Broad-billed Roller feeds on wing mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Broad-billed Roller is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Eurystomus glaucurus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Broad-billed 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 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Broad-billed Roller are: forests and heavily treed regions

You will normally see the Broad-billed Roller by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Geelbektroupant

German ... Zimtroller

Portuguese ... Rolieiro-de-bico-amarelo

French ... Rolle violet

Dutch ... Breedbekscharrelaar Roller

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 450

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