Rufous-headed Ground Roller

Atelornis crossleyi Sharpe, 1875

Brachypteraciidae — Ground Rollers

Rufous-headed Ground Roller, Atelornis crossleyi, is a bird in the ground roller family, Brachypteraciidae, found in montane north-western and eastern Madagascar. It belongs to the group of ground rollers that live in humid forest, unlike the one species that occurs in the dry south-western spiny bush country of Madagascar. The scientific name honours Alfred Crossley, who gathered mammals, birds, butterflies and moths in Madagascar and Cameroon during the 1860s and 1870s. It was described by Sharpe in 1875.

Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Brachypteraciidae — Ground Rollers
Breeding range: Africa: montane nw, e Madagascar