Broad-billed Roller

Broad-billed Roller

Eurystomus glaucurus

Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Nyungwe National Park

In 3 days <5%

8 Verified sightings at Nyungwe National Park From 2019 to 2026
4,298 In all 37 parks
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Broad-billed Roller

The broad-billed roller (Eurystomus glaucurus) is a member of the roller family of birds which breeds across tropical Africa and Madagascar in all but the driest regions. It is a wet season breeder, which migrates from the northern and southern areas of its range towards the moister equatorial belt in the dry season.

The broad-billed roller was formally described in 1776 by the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller under the binomial name Coracias glaucurus. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek glaukos meaning "blue-grey". Statius Müller based his brief description on "Le Rollier de Madagascar" that had been described in 1775 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and illustrated by Edme-Louis Daubenton. The type locality is Madagascar. The broad-billed roller is now placed in the genus Eurystomus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the broad-billed roller was most closely related to the blue-throated roller (Eurystomus gularis). Alternate names for the broad-billed roller include the African broad-billed roller and the cinnamon... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:22

Ivory Coast · 2026

© Étienne Leroy · XC1085725 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:32

Zambia · 2023

© Dries Van de Loock · XC854390 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Begging call0:06

Ghana · 2022

© Philip Agbavor · XC730096 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Ankarafantsika National Park 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~70%
2 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
~60%
3 Lake Mburo National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
4 Berenty Reserve 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~40%
5 Mantadia National Park 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~40%
6 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
7 Kafue National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~20%
8 Mana Pools National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~20%
9 Mikumi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
10 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
~20%
11 Hwange National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~20%
12 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
13 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
14 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
15 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
~10%
16 Lower Zambezi National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~10%
17 Akagera National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~10%
18 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
19 Gonarezhou National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~10%
20 South Luangwa National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~10%
21 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
~10%
22 Chobe National Park 🇧🇼 Botswana
~10%
23 Gorongosa National Park 🇲🇿 Mozambique
~10%
24 Semuliki National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
25 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
26 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
27 Ranomafana National Park 🇲🇬 Madagascar
<5%
28 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
29 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
30 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
31 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
32 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
33 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
34 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
35 Nyungwe National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
<5%
36 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
37 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kampala 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
2 Serrekunda 🇬🇲 Gambia
~30%
3 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~30%
4 Lagos 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~10%
5 Cotonou 🇧🇯 Benin
~10%
6 Zanzibar City 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
7 Ouagadougou 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
~10%
8 Abuja 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~10%
9 Lomé 🇹🇬 Togo
<5%
10 Monrovia 🇱🇷 Liberia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Broad-billed Roller in Nyungwe National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Broad-billed Roller sighting in Nyungwe National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 220th most-seen of the 252 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Broad-billed Roller in Nyungwe National Park?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Broad-billed Roller in Nyungwe National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Broad-billed Roller?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Broad-billed 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.

Which relatives of the Broad-billed Roller live in Nyungwe National Park?

Same order: Coraciiformes

The closest relatives of the Broad-billed Roller that you can see in Nyungwe National Park (order Coraciiformes, Rollers, Kingfishers, and Allies) are Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (about 40%) and European Bee-eater (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Broad-billed Roller sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Broad-billed Roller is recorded against all the birds logged in Nyungwe National Park (8 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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