Taxonomy
The roller family Coraciidae is one of nine in the order Coraciiformes, which also includes the motmots, bee-eaters, todies, ground-rollers, Cuckoo Roller and three families of kingfishers. Apart from the ground-rollers, these families do not appear to be particularly closely related to the rollers, and the Coraciiformes are therefore probably polyphyletic. The division of the rollers into two genera is uncontroversial.
The eleven species are:
- Genus: Coracias
- European Roller Coracias garrulus
- Abyssinian Roller Coracias abyssinicus
- Lilac-breasted Roller Coracias caudatus
- Racket-tailed Roller Coracias spatulatus
- Rufous-crowned Roller Coracias naevius
- Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis
- Purple-winged Roller Coracias temminckii
- Blue-bellied Roller Coracias cyanogaster
- Genus: Eurystomus
- Broad-billed Roller Eurystomus glaucurus
- Blue-throated Roller Eurystomus gularis
- Azure Dollarbird Eurystomus azureus
- Oriental Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis
The Coraciiformes family gets its scientific name for Latin coracium, "like a raven", and the English name "roller" from the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform during courtship or territorial flights.
Read more about this topic: Roller
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