Interesting facts

Family: Coraciidae

Status: Least concern

Type of bird: Savanna bird

European Roller

Photo by Natalia Slastnikova

Protecting savannas and open woodland is important for the survival of the bird. This species make nests in cavities of trees, therefor leaving old trees standing helps them find places to nest. The Lilac-Breasted Roller is a pretty common bird in the highlighted countries on my illustration, but the Coraciidae family have species which are in decline. The Azure Dollarbird is nearly threatens, tho this bird lives in Indonesia. The European Roller is currently stable and is of least concern, however the species have had a rapid decline in Europe due to farming lands and loss of nesting places. In some countries it’s even strongly threatened.

The Lilac-Breasted Roller inspired be to put together colors, to use up my yarn stash on a simple, yet beautiful project. Take a deep-dive into your own yarn stash and let yourself be inspired by the Rollers beautiful colors.

Species in the gallery:

Purple Roller, Lilac-Breasted Roller, Indian Roller, Blue-Bellied Roller, Abyssinian Roller

The Lilac-Breasted Roller is the national bird of Botswana. This bird prefers to live in open woodland and savannas, and is highly distributed through Southern and Eastern Africa. The Lilac-Breasted Roller is known for it’s lilac, turquoise, blue, green and brown feather coat and is considered to be one of the most colorful birds in Africa. The name Roller comes from the birds’ ability to roll in the air when trying to impress a partner, often called rolling display.

Keeping the species alive