Bird of the Week: Abyssinian Roller

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I think the Abyssinian roller is a pretty nifty bird. But you might wonder, “Why have a ‘Bird of the Week’?” Well, we’ve established that I love birds, but I want you to love birds, too!

Okay, maybe you already do. If so, that’s awesome!

But maybe you want to love birds? Maybe you have the capacity to love birds, but you just don’t know them well enough yet? Well, I get that. We’ve all been there! Everyone needs a gateway bird.

Lucky for you, dear reader, I am here to convince you that wild birds deserve your adoration.

Let’s take a look at our first Bird of the Week!

Name:

Common: Abyssinian Roller

Scientific: Coracias abyssinicus

Where It’s Found:

The range is narrow, like a belt, but nearly spans the width of the continent. This bird is found across tropical Africa, from Senegal in western Africa to Ethiopia in eastern Africa.

Its range is south of the Sahara, but not south of the tropics. You could get lucky to see it in northern Uganda or Kenya, but if you’re in Tanzania you’re well out of range. This is not a bird of southern Africa.

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Relationships:

Rollers belong to an Old World family – no living species occur in the Americas. Their closest relatives include the kingfishers, todies, and motmots.

I’m not saying that this information makes Abyssinian rollers any more worthy of your adoration. But wouldn’t their family reunions be a birding/photography dream?! Dang, that’s some good company!

Distinguishing Features:

Color is primarily a bright light blue, which provides a striking contrast to its brown back and deeper royal blue coverts.

Long tail streamers, for that little bit “extra”.

More similar to crows than songbirds in terms of size and sound, it’s a pretty perching bird that croaks rather than croons.

Perches prominently, completely confident in its striking beauty and awesomeness.

Likes:

Swooping, rolling acrobatic flights during courtship or even for territorial displays. Heck, these impressive antics are why they’re called “rollers”!

Juicy arthropods to pluck from the ground, although very small mammals are also part of its diet. Yep, small mammals!

Getting portraits taken by appreciative birders maintaining a reasonable distance? Well, I sure hope it likes that. I do love seeing this bird. Eight years and hundreds of birds after seeing this species, I would still call the Abyssinian roller one of my most favorite birds.

A Note About Names:

“Abyssinian” species are common in east sub-Saharan Africa. Why? “Abyssinia” was a term used by outsiders to refer to the area also known as the Ethiopian Empire (an area spanning present day Ethiopia and Eritrea).

An interesting thing to know about Ethiopia is it’s an endemics hotspot. Endemic species occur only in a single, defined area. Usually people are referring to being endemic to a political (e.g., a country) or a geographically unique area (e.g., an island or “the Albertine rift”).

Many species only occur in Ethiopia. About 17 bird species occur only in Ethiopia. And more species have ranges that include Ethiopia along with less easily-visited countries, like Sudan or Somalia. It’s enough species that many avid listers go birding in Ethiopia primarily to see these birds.

The Abyssinian woodpecker, Ethiopian wolf, and the Abyssinian longclaw are all examples of endemic species in Ethiopia!

Does that mean an “Abyssinian” roller is only found in Ethiopia? Well, no.

In species names, place names might simply be the first place it was known. (Well, “known” by the probably European naturalists who decided to collect and re-name everything, anyway). Meaning any “Abyssinian” thing is very likely found, or was once found, in Ethiopia. But it isn’t restrictive at all.

So “Abyssinian” does mean the bird is found in Ethiopia. But it does not imply an endemic species at all – hence this roller being found all the way west to Senegal!