Indian Roller
The Indian roller is a blue bird with biggish head, heavy black bill,
rufous-brown breast, pale blue abdomen and under tail. The dark and pale
blue portions of the wings show up as brilliant bands in flight. The neck
and throat are purplish lilac with white shaft streaks. The bare patch
around the eye is a pale brownish yellow colour.
Local Names: Neelkanth (Hindi)
Pal Kuriwi (Tamil)
Panamkakka (Malayalam)
Indian rollers are often seen perched on prominent bare trees or wires.
They descend to the ground to capture their prey which may include insects,
spiders, scorpions, small snakes and amphibians. Highly beneficial to
agriculture since it destroys vast quantities of injurious insects.
The display of this bird is an aerobatic display, with the twists and turns
that give the bird its English name of "rollers".
Nest is a collection of straw, rags and rubbish in a natural tree-hollow
at moderate heights; sometimes in a hole in wall of buildings.
The normal clutch consists of about 3–5 eggs. The eggs are white and
broad oval or nearly spherical. Both sexes incubate the eggs for about 17
to 19 days. The young fledge and leave the nest after about a month.
The Indian roller has been chosen as the state bird by the Indian states
of Odisha, Karnataka and Telangana.
References
The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)
Wikipedia
Pictures:
Citrus Retreats, Alleppey Kerala(2019)
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