The lilac-breasted roller is an African member of the roller family of birds. 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 conspicuously at the tops of trees, poles or other high vantage points from where it can spot insects, lizards, scorpions, snails, small birds and rodents moving about on the ground. Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2–4 eggs is laid, and incubated by both parents, who are extremely aggressive in defence of their nest, taking on raptors and other birds. During the breeding season the male will rise to a fair height (69 to 144 metres), descending in swoops and dives,[3] while uttering harsh, discordant cries. The sexes are different in coloration, and juveniles lack the long tail streamers of adults. This species is unofficially considered the national bird of Kenya. Alternate names for the lilac-breasted roller include the fork-tailed roller, lilac-throated roller (also used for a subspecies of purple roller) and Mosilikatze’s roller.
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