Description:

A large roller, proportionately larger-headed and in flight appears long-necked. Turquoise-blue head and underparts, and rufous-cinnamon mantle and tertials. Primaries and secondaries are black, and has black corners to tail. In non-breeding the colors much duller.

Distribution:

Common summer visitor to western districts of Ghizer, Diamer, Gilgit, Nagar and Hunza. Usually found in open country, warm and sunny lowlands with scattered trees, open woods, orchards, mixed farmland and broad river valleys, up to 3000m.

Behavior:

Forages mostly from elevated perch, watching ground intently; fly-catching from perch, following plough on farmland, and even sustained aerial hunting like a swallow. Feeds largely on invertebrates, mainly beetles and other hard-bodied insects, and some small vertebrates.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of European Roller in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of European Roller

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.