Coracias garrulus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The European roller (Coracias garrulus) is the only member of the roller family Coraciidae breeding in Europe. Its range extends into the Maghreb, West Asia and Central Asia. It winters in southern Africa, primarily in dry wooded savanna and bushy plains. It occurs in a wide variety of habitats, but avoids treeless plains. It usually nests in tree holes.
The European roller was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Coracias garrulus. The type locality is Sweden. The generic name derives from Greek korakias referring to a type of corvid, perhaps the red-billed chough. The specific epithet garrulus is from Latin and means 'chattering' in reference to the bird's calls. Alternate English names include the blue roller, common roller, Eurasian roller, or simply roller.
A molecular phylogenetic study by Ulf Johansson and collaborators published in 2018 found that the European roller was most closely related to the Abyssinian roller (Coracias abyssinicus). The rollers are medium-sized Old World birds of open woodland habitats. They have brightly coloured plumage... Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Zoo Hluboka | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 5 | Parc animalier de Sainte-Croix | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Zoo Opole | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 8 | Kharkiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 9 | Aquarama Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Plock Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 11 | Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 12 | Alpenzoo Innsbruck | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 13 | Kharkiv Dolphinarium | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 14 | Sea Life | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 15 | Ogród zoologiczny w Lubinie | 🇵🇱 Poland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a European Roller sighting in Riyadh on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 68th most-seen of the 78 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a European Roller in Riyadh on a given day, against under 5% in May–August and November–March, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most European Roller sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 22 cities where we can rate European Roller sightings, Riyadh ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Karaj (Iran, about 10%) and Durban (South Africa, about 10%).
Same order: Coraciiformes
The closest relatives of the European Roller that you can see in Riyadh (order Coraciiformes, Rollers, Kingfishers, and Allies) are Arabian Green Bee-eater (about 50%), White-throated Kingfisher (about 40%) and European Bee-eater (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the European Roller is recorded against all the birds logged in Riyadh (6 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
