Long-tailed Ground Roller

Uratelornis chimaera Rothschild, 1895

Long-tailed Ground Roller, Uratelornis chimaera, is a bird of the coastal far south-west of Madagascar, where it lives in arid spiny forest. It belongs to the ground roller family and is the only species in its genus. Its long tail and plump shape help set it apart, and it is the only ground roller known to show clear differences between the sexes. It has dark brown upperparts with black streaking, pale underparts, a white throat marked by black facial and breast bands, and blue at the wing and tail edges.

Order

Coraciiformes

Family

Brachypteraciidae — Ground Rollers

Breeding range

Africa: coastal far sw Madagascar