Overview

Dollarbird: Medium, blue-green roller with purple-blue throat, large, brown-olive head, and wide, orange-red bill. Long, pointed wings have purple-black flight feathers and white-blue patch on base of the primaries. Medium-length, purple-black, rectangular tail. Short orange-red legs and feet. Female and juvenile like male but duller.

Voice Text

"keck", "kek-kek"

• It is most commonly seen as a single bird, perched on a bare branch, high in a tree.
• The Dollarbird, also called Oriental Dollarbird or Dollar Roller, was first described in 1766 in Java by Linnaeus.
• This species takes its name from its distinctive coin-shaped markings on its wings.
• A group of rollers is collectively known as a "flight", a "pair", a "swoop" and a "singular" of rollers.

Rollers (Coraciidae)

ORDER

The kingfishers, motmots, todies, bee-eaters, and rollers are four of the eight families that make up the CORACIIFORMES (pronounced kor-as-i-FOR-meez).

FAMILY TAXONOMY

The rollers are placed in the coraciidae (pronounced kor-AS-i-dee), a group of twelve species in two genera found in southern and eastern Europe, Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australasia.

SOUTH PACIFIC-PALAU

One species of roller in one genus occurs in the South Pacific. This species, the Dollarbird, also occurs in Palau.

KNOWN FOR

Rollers are known for their acrobatic movements in flight, and brightly colored plumage.

PHYSICAL

Members of the coraciidae are stout, medium birds with large, stocky heads, and broad, fairly strong beaks. They have long wings, medium to long tails, and very short legs.

COLORATION

Most roller species have brightly colored plumage, predominant colors being different shades of blue and green. Most species also show some black and varying degrees of red-brown, pink, and cinnamon.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

Most roller species are birds of open grasslands and savannahs. However, the Dollarbird of Australia, southern Asia, and Palau, and a few species in Africa and Sulawesi also live in mangroves and tropical forests.

MIGRATION

Ten of the members of this family are sedentary, and two are migratory. The European Roller migrates to Africa for the winter, and Dollarbirds that breed in eastern Asia and Australia migrate to warmer climates during the winter months.

HABITS

Rollers are typically seen in pairs and do not flock with other birds. They forage by waiting on a prominent perch and then flying out to snatch large insects, lizards, and small snakes from the air or ground.

CONSERVATION

Most roller species are fairly common residents. However, habitat loss has resulted in significant declines in populations of two species, the European Roller and Azure Roller. For this reason, these two species are considered to be Near Threatened by the IUCN.

INTERESTING FACTS

Rollers have small, weak feet with the two inner front toes fused together at the base. Roller species won’t hesitate to catch and eat centipedes, hairy caterpillars, and brightly colored snakes avoided by other birds. Some roller species make acrobatic dives at people who get too close to their nests. The Dollarbird is named after the prominent, round, pale-blue “dollar shaped” patches in each wing.

Artist

Chris Vest