Dollarbird

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Dollarbird
Adult
Adult
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Coraciidae
Genus: Eurystomus
Species: E. orientalis
Binomial name
Eurystomus orientalis
Linnaeus, 1766

The Dollarbird, Eurystomus orientalis also known as the Dollar Roller is a bird of the roller family, so named because of the distinctive blue dollar shaped spots on its wings.

It has a length of up to 30cm, and can be found in east Asia, from northern Australia to the Japan archipelago. The bird is an insectivore with a love of beetles and often catches prey whilst flying. The young birds have a darker beak which becomes more orange as it becomes mature.

It is most commonly seen as a single bird with a distinctive upright silhouette on a bare branch high in a tree, from which it hawks for insects, returning to the same perch after a few seconds.


Rush Creek, SE Queensland, Australia
Rush Creek, SE Queensland, Australia


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