They say patience is a virtue! Bold, alert and spectacularly beautiful…we’ve waited a long time to bring you images of this wonderful species, and we’re thrilled to have this summer migrant on our lists at last.
The Roller Coracias garrulus is the sole representative of a predominantly African family, returning from wintering grounds to breed across southern Europe each year. Their stronghold is in the east, and their range extends north up into the Baltic states…they remain scarcer in the west, but Spain provides the habitat they require and the species is a “must-see” for birdwatchers in the region.
They’re a bird of warm, dry open woodland with scattered trees and bushes, and the arid oak and pinewoods of Iberia suit them perfectly. Like Shrikes, they watch their patches intently from a favourite perch, before swooping down to snatch the large insects, small rodents and reptiles that make up their prey. They overwinter on dry savanna and plains in southern Africa, following herds of game and hunting along the edges of bushfires.
An impressive, crow-sized bird, the Roller is pale blue with a rich red brown back…quite unlike any other European species. Note the large head, black eye stripe and the stout black bill in the images we have for you here. In the air, the vivid turquoise inner wings show in sharp contrast to the striking black flight feathers – a truly impressive sight! – and the twists and turns of the bird’s “rolling” display flight give the species its common English name.
Sadly, this magnificent seasonal visitor has proved vulnerable over recent years and is in decline over much of its European range. Research from the east makes grim reading: in Estonia the 50-100 pairs nesting in 1998 reduced to none in 2004, and the several thousand pairs nesting in Latvia and Lithuania in the 1970s fell to under 30 by the same year. The species is now extinct in Germany, and has disappeared from much of its northern range in Russia.
Along with many other species the Roller faces persecution around the Mediterranean, and has suffered from the use of pesticides and changes in farming and forestry practices in Spain. An increased interest in conservation – including the introduction of nestboxes – may help this bird regionally, and for now at least we can still look forward to encountering this wonderful species again!
We’ll continue to bring you all the latest birdwatching news another fantastic season unfolds, so please keep checking the posts…and for more information on how to join us for birdwatching trips and holidays down here in southern Spain, click here!
