The Purple Roller scans for prey from high perches in open African savannas.
The nominate adult has a reddish-brown crown and nape, a white eyebrow, olive-green back, lilac rump, blue tail, and pinkish underparts streaked with white. The southern subspecies is more olive-headed with earthier underparts.
It lives in pairs, though the male and female forage separately. From high trees or utility wires, it watches for grasshoppers, beetles, and small vertebrates, most of which it catches on the ground.
It breeds in cavities such as tree hollows, old woodpecker holes, or bank burrows, and lays 2–4 eggs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.