Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)

14 inches long.

The Lilac-breasted Roller is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula, preferring open woodland and savanna; it is largely absent from treeless places. Common in the thornveld savannas

Usually found alone or in pairs, it perches conspicuously at the tops of trees, poles or other high vantage points from where it can spot insects, lizards, scorpions, snails, small birds and rodents moving about at ground level.

Its food is very varied; locusts, grasshoppers, small reptiles, beetles, caterpillars, ants, scorpions, centipedes and even small birds.

Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2–4 eggs is laid, and incubated by both parents, who are extremely aggressive in defense of their nest, taking on raptors and other birds. During the breeding season the male will rise to great heights, descending in swoops and dives, while uttering harsh, discordant cries.

Photographed in Madikwe Game Reserve, North West, South Africa.