The blue and bronze colouring of Rollers can be confused with Bee-Eaters, oh how lucky we are to have two such exotic birds here to get confused! They are summer visitors like the Bee-Eaters but are rarely seen, usually sitting on a telegraph wire. They are predominantly a brilliant turquoise blue, with a pale reddy-brown back. You only truly see their colours when they are flying.

According to my bird book, they are declining. The pale form of the juvenile in winter is beautiful, a pastel coloured version of the adults, but I guess we are too far north to see the juveniles. I confess to never consciously having heard the Roller’s call, we are usually in the car and see them at the side of the road. But according to my bird book they make a crow-like raak-aak sound.

Click here to watch a European Roller [Coracias Garrulus], in France, on You Tube.

5 to remember
bronce – bronze [colour]
el poste de telégrafo – telegraph post
predominantamente – predominantly
realmente – truly
según – according to

 

Listen to the song of these other birds we see in our Spanish valley:-
Sparrowhawk
Hoopoe
Bee-Eater

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Blue & bronze: the exotic Roller #Birds in #Spain via @Spanish_Valley http://wp.me/p3dYp6-1eu