A colourful bird of African savannas and open woodland, often seen surveying its surroundings from high branches.
Some have a purple breast and blue extending from the belly toward the tail. Some toes are joined, helping grip branches.
G. Kopij mapped bird territories in a 400-hectare acacia savanna plot in north-central Namibia in 2012, 2017 and 2020. The study covered parrot, roller and woodpecker species. Lilac-breasted Roller density rose from 0.5 pairs per 100 hectares in 2012 to 1.4 in 2020.
About half of the roller territories were recorded in the same sites across years. The birds were not individually marked, so the comparison followed territory locations rather than known individuals. The three survey years show how local territory density and placement changed in this savanna plot.
IUCN Red List (BirdLife International) · Least Concern (LC) · Global
BirdLife International’s 2024 global assessment lists the Lilac-breasted Roller as Least Concern (LC), with a stable population trend.