Coracias naevius
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The name "purple roller" can also refer to the azure dollarbird (Eurystomus azureus) of Indonesia. The purple roller (Coracias naevius), or rufous-crowned roller, is a medium-sized bird widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. Compared with other rollers its colours are rather dull and its voice harsh and grating.
The purple roller was formally described in 1800 by the French zoologist François Marie Daudin under the binomial name Coracias naevia. Daudin's description was based on a specimen collected in Senegal. The specific epithet is from Latin naevius meaning "spotted" or "marked". A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the purple roller was most closely related to the racket-tailed roller (Coracias spatulatus).
The phylogenetic relationships among the Coracias species are shown below, from the molecular study by Johansson et al. (2018) Found from Senegal and Gambia to Somalia and northern Tanzania Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 4 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 5 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 6 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 7 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 13 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 14 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 15 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 16 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 17 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 18 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 19 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 20 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 21 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 22 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 23 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 24 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 25 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-crowned Roller sighting in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, based on 52 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 215th most-seen of the 380 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-crowned Roller in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March and November–December, the lowest months. That is one of Tsavo West National Park's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 140 mm in November.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-crowned 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.
13th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Rufous-crowned Roller sightings, Tsavo West National Park ranks 13th at about 10%. The best odds are in Awash National Park (Ethiopia, about 30%), Ruaha National Park (Tanzania, about 30%) and Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 20%).
Same genus: Coracias
The closest relatives of the Rufous-crowned Roller that you can see in Tsavo West National Park (genus Coracias, Typical Rollers) are Lilac-breasted Roller (about 50%) and European Roller (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-crowned Roller is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo West National Park (52 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.
