Template:POTD/2022-12-10

Picture of the day

The lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) is a species of bird in the roller family, Coraciidae. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, and is a vagrant to the southern Arabian Peninsula. It prefers open woodland and savanna, and it is for the most part absent from treeless places. Usually found alone or in pairs, it perches at the tops of trees, poles or other high vantage points from where it can spot insects, amphibians, crabs and small birds moving about on the ground. Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of two to four eggs are laid, and incubated by both parents, who are extremely aggressive in defence of their nest, taking on raptors and other birds. This lilac-breasted roller, of the subspecies C. c. caudatus, was photographed perching on a branch in Chobe National Park, Botswana.Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp