Lilac-breasted Roller

Lilac-breasted Roller

Coracias caudatus

Silhouette: Hugo Gruson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Lake Mburo National Park

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

563 Verified sightings at Lake Mburo National Park From 2019 to 2026
24,764 In all 40 parks
November Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Lilac-breasted Roller

The lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) is an African bird of the roller family, Coraciidae. It is widely distributed in Southern and Eastern 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 at the tops of trees, poles or other high vantage points from where it can spot insects, amphibians and small birds moving about on the ground. Nesting takes place in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2–4 eggs are 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, while uttering harsh, discordant cries. The sexes do not differ in coloration, and juveniles lack the long tail streamers of adults. This species is unofficially considered the national bird of Kenya. Alternative names for the lilac-breasted roller include the fork-tailed roller, lilac-throated roller (also used for a subspecies of purple roller), Mosilikatze's roller, and troupand.

�... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:09

Kenya · 2026

© He Wenjin · XC1169799 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flight call0:07

South Africa · 2022

© Tony Archer · XC715688 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:18

Botswana · 2023

© Marc Anderson · XC1004834 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~90%
2 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
~70%
3 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
~70%
4 Hwange National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~70%
5 Meru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~70%
6 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~70%
7 Gonarezhou National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~60%
8 Lower Zambezi National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~60%
9 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~60%
10 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~60%
11 South Luangwa National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~60%
12 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~60%
13 Mana Pools National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~60%
14 Akagera National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~60%
15 Chobe National Park 🇧🇼 Botswana
~60%
16 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~60%
17 Mkomazi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~50%
18 Selous Game Reserve 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~50%
19 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~50%
20 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~50%
21 Mikumi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~50%
22 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~50%
23 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~40%
24 Lake Mburo National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
25 Kafue National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~40%
26 Pilanesberg National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~30%
27 Gorongosa National Park 🇲🇿 Mozambique
~30%
28 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
29 Etosha National Park 🇳🇦 Namibia
~30%
30 Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
31 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
32 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
33 Awash National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~20%
34 Waterberg Plateau Park 🇳🇦 Namibia
~10%
35 Nairobi National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
36 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
37 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
38 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
39 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
40 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Dar es-Salaam 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
2 Lilongwe 🇲🇼 Malawi
~10%
3 Lusaka 🇿🇲 Zambia
<5%
4 Maputo 🇲🇿 Mozambique
<5%
5 Zanzibar City 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 National Zoological Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Natura Artis Magistra 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
3 Antwerp Zoo 🇧🇪 Belgium In captivity
4 Dvůr Králové Zoo 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
5 Walsrode World Bird Park 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
6 Bojnice Zoo 🇸🇰 Slovakia In captivity
7 Dierenpark Hoenderdaell 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
8 Cologne Zoological Garden 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
9 London Zoo 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
10 Affen- und Vogelpark Eckenhagen 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
11 Birdworld 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
12 Espace zoologique de Saint-Martin-la-Plaine 🇫🇷 France In captivity
13 Santa Barbara Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
14 Pyrénées Animal Park 🇫🇷 France In captivity
15 Zoo d'Upie 🇫🇷 France In captivity
16 Lakeland Wildlife Oasis 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
17 Aquatopia 🇧🇪 Belgium In captivity
18 Cologne Zoo Aquarium 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
19 Landgoed Hoenderdaell 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Lilac-breasted Roller in Lake Mburo National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Lilac-breasted Roller sighting in Lake Mburo National Park on a given day, based on 563 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 362 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Lilac-breasted Roller in Lake Mburo National Park?

November and December

In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Lilac-breasted Roller in Lake Mburo National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May, the lowest month. Those are among Lake Mburo National Park's wettest months, with about 85 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in July.

What time of day is best to see a Lilac-breasted Roller?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lilac-breasted 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.

Where does the Lilac-breasted Roller sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Lilac-breasted Roller is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Mburo National Park (563 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.

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