By Jim Knox
Our Land Rover swung out wide to the left and turned down the rutted bush track. Swift movement to my right drew my eye high above. The bright South African sun caught the flash of color, reflecting it down to me. The creature zipped to a large horizontal branch forty feet up, where I studied it minutely.
The Lilac-Breasted Roller (Coracias Caudatus), is an African icon and a bird of the true bush. Also known as the Fork-Tailed Roller, Lilac-Throated Roller, and Mosilikatze’s Roller, this vivid bird is unmistakable. An inhabitant of Sub-Sahara Africa, and an occasional visitor to the Arabian Peninsula, it is a bird of tree-dotted savanna and open woodlands. One of nine species of its genus, these African birds are arguably the most well-known.
Possessing a modest 23-inch wingspan, 15-inch length, and 3.5-ounce mass, these birds don’t draw our attention for their size. It is the roller’s other attributes that grab our fleeting human attention. With an olive crown, gold over-the-eye band, white “chin,” bright lilac breast, brilliant azure and indigo wings, turquoise underside and black-tipped forked tail, the bird visually proclaims its presence wherever it lands. Earning the name roller for its acrobatic rolling courtship flights in which the birds launch upwards, before diving with wings closed, then rolling swiftly from side to side. If the courtship is successful, these aerial breeders will mate in flight! Whether by appearance or movement, the roller’s beauty and grace are undisputed.
Yet, although the roller is arresting, it earns my respect for more than its eye-catching plumage and agility in flight. Its characteristic robust build and large head and stout beak convey power within that little body. Far from another “pretty avian face,” the roller is a creature or strategy, strength, and execution. Filling the role of its North American cousins, the shrikes, the Lilac-Breasted Roller is pint-sized–a fascinating combination of beauty and beast. Sporting the colors of a songbird and the predatory heart of a raptor, the roller is creature not to be underestimated. Holding their ground against many intruders—including humans—Lilac-Breasted Rollers will aggressively protect their nests, chicks, and even their hunting territory, chasing off trespassers. As a small creature whose call has been likened to the noise of a steam train, the roller owns, and projects, a larger-than-life reputation.
A fierce hunter to rival their larger kin, the roller succumbs to only the swiftest predators such as Peregrine falcons and Wahlberg’s eagles. It is this swiftness and vigilance that serves the roller well when on the hunt. In addition to grasshoppers and other insect prey, these aerial hunters are dauntless, capturing rodents, lizards, birds—and even venomous prey such as centipedes and scorpions! Renowned for their tactics, rollers frequently take a prominent position from which to scan for prey, while motionless. In fact, it is one of the few creatures of the African bush known to boldly dive into the advancing front of brush fires, picking off hapless prey fleeing the flames. Once targeted, the bright birds swoop down, grab the prey with their oversized beaks and batter their victims with their wings, as well as against rocks, trees, or hardened ground. Once subdued, the rollers frequently swallow their prey whole.
Nicknamed the “Rainbow roller” for its dazzling plumage, the roller is often called Africa’s most beautiful bird. How can such a stunning creature possess the makeup of a relentless predator? It is this medley of the visual and physical—this melding of beauty and ferocity, that marks this little bird as a creature of unmatched attributes. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Long revered by people throughout the African continent, the Lilac Breasted-Roller is the National Bird of Kenya and figures prominently in many cultures and traditions. A monogamous bird that mates for life, the roller earns our respect for its loyalty. Standing as a living symbol of love, marriage, and devotion, rollers share parental duties. The Afrikaans word for the roller is “troupand,” which translates to wedding band. The Venda people of South Africa and Zimbabwe fashion wedding rings from the bird’s many-colored feathers which have also adorned South African wedding dresses for generations. The Zulu culture embraces the roller as a test for a couple’s readiness and compatibility for marriage. A feather band is attached to the couple’s wrists. If the couple can keep the feathered band sealed, they are ready to work together through life’s trials and may enter into marriage.
In the Lilac-Breasted Roller we have a creature of enviable traits. A living thing of small stature yet larger-than-life abilities and presence. A creature of simultaneous beauty and boldness, a mate of devotion and teamwork and an unrivaled package of feather and grit. In short, a creature worthy of emulation. While few of us may aspire to chomp down a scorpion, or swoop upon an intruding lioness, we can all take a lesson from the Lilac-Breasted Roller. There is beauty in appearance, and beauty in the strength of our actions.
