Birds Around Me 0069 - Indian roller (नीलकंठ)

Birds Around Me 0069 - Indian roller (नीलकंठ) - Coracias benghalensis

Indian roller (नीलकंठ) - Coracias benghalensis
Taken on June 26, 2018
Location: Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India (Latitude: 23.172826, Longitude: 79.881881)

The Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis), is a member of the roller family of birds. They are found widely across tropical Asia from Iraq eastward across the Indian Subcontinent to Indochina and are best known for the aerobatic displays of the male during the breeding season. They are very commonly seen perched along roadside trees and wires and are commonly seen in open grassland and scrub forest habitats.

The Indian roller is a stocky bird about 26–27 cm long. The crown and vent are blue. The primaries are deep purplish blue with a band of pale blue. The tail is sky blue with a terminal band of Prussian blue and the central feathers are dull green. The neck and throat are purplish lilac with white shaft streaks. The bare patch around the eye is ochre in colour.

Bird Facts: The first time I saw an Indian Roller was at a Dussehra fair when I was in Bishrampur, Chhattisgarh, and the local politician released a few rollers. It was 1990, illegal but still widely practiced, saw the ritual again in 2018 in Jabalpur, MP. Its feathers are considered productivity boosters for cows, adding to grass and feeding them to cows is believed to increase their milk yield. The Indian roller has been chosen as the state bird by the Indian states of Odisha, Karnataka, and Telangana.

Hindi name of the bird: Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) नीलकंठ

-- Ashutosh Jhureley @BirdsAroundMe

Unfinished List (अपूर्ण सूची) https://birds.rekabira.in/p/this-is-list-of-birds-i-clicked-since.html