As much as they poop on our cars, steal our fries at the beach and horde twigs by our window sills, it’s hard to dislike birds. Your outdoors might just feel quite a lot sadder and emptier without any tweeting, fluttering and chirping in the air.
Plus, a lot of them look really pretty.
I don’t just mean your common peacock, dove or lorikeets here. Some bird species in the wild take color to a whole new level. Case in point, the Lilac-Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus). It sports some of the most gorgeous, lilac-colored feathers you’ll ever see, hence its name.
But there’s more to this bird than just its pretty feathers.
This roller isn’t a one-color edition. Coracias caudatus has two subspecies, and they’re not carbon copies of each other in the slightest. The Lilac-breasted Roller, which inhabits Central Kenya to northern parts of South Africa, has the distinctly large amounts of Lilac on it.
Sexual dimorphism isn’t a thing with these birds. That is to say, the males and females look identical in outward appearance. So these fabulous colors aren’t gender-exclusive!
Though its cousin, the lilac-throated roller from western Somalia and northeastern Kenya, is just as pretty.
The former’s full scientific name is Coracias caudatus caudatus, and the latter is Coracias caudatus lorti. Both belonging to the family Coraciidae, they do a good job showing that these pretty colors run in the family.
Exhibiting quite a lot of variation, this bird’s patterns can be any of several blends of turquoise, lilac, red, brown, green and black. Nature was having a field day with this bird’s colors.
The Lilac-throated Roller used to be classified as a distinct species from its equally vibrant Lilac-breasted cousin. That turned out to not be the case, and it’s now understood that both Rollers are subspecies of Coracias caudatus (hence the three-part scientific names!).
Biodiversity is never not fun to learn about, especially if some of the subjects are colorful and cute. We mammals number in at just around 6,399 living species. Not a bad tally, if you ask me.
But we’re about to get one-upped. Not that we mind.
You might have heard that the total number of living bird species is somewhere around 10,000. Yes, that’s a lot more than 6,399, isn’t it? If only it were accurate. The actual number might be closer to 18,000, at least based on a 2016 study.
The Lilac-throated roller’s family, Coraciidae, are known as “rollers”, thanks to these birds’ habits of rolling, twirling and spinning mid-flight like some really small, feathery acrobats. What most of us wouldn’t give to see a lilac and rainbow colored bird doing those fancy twirls and tumbles in the air!
There’s more colorful cousins too!
Colors run in the Coraciidae. The Indian roller (top) sports some stylish Turquoise and beige feathers. Like other rollers, its go-to food consists of insects, arachnids and the occasional snakes. Note that the bird below is the Lilac-breasted Roller again.
Then there’s the Indochinese Roller, with its stunningly gorgeous Prussian Blue plumage. Maybe our wardrobes could use some inspiration, don’t you think?
Sure beats wearing denim jeans and plain T-shirts every day.
If you fancy looking to see a roller in the wild, then the warm regions of Africa and Southeast Asia might be your best bet. You might spot them waiting out for any frogs, bugs or snakes to snatch up. That’s right, these little things are hunters!
It never gets old to learn how diverse the natural world is. Especially when some of its coolest inhabitants are overshadowed by more popular ones. But now you know that there’s a whole family of birds that look straight out of a fashion magazine’s spring collection, and now your day is all the richer for it!
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