Coracias – Old World rollers

The rollers, an Old World family of close passerine birds related to kingfishers and bee-eaters, include the genus Coracias. They have the same colorful look as previous groupings, with a predominance of blues and browns.

Hunters that watch and wait are called Coracias rollers. They wait patiently on a tree or a post before swooping down on their victim, taking it back to a perch in their beak, and then dismembering it. Small vertebrates, including frogs, lizards, rodents, baby birds, and a variety of terrestrial invertebrates, are taken. They hunt animals that many other birds avoid, such as snakes, hairy caterpillars, and bright-colored insects. When hunting, they often perch conspicuously, like enormous shrikes.