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Being a good kid: here are my photos. Please help, is it a European Roller or a Lilac breasted Roller?

Zypresse/Freda,

One does not have to rely on colour alone to make a call on bird ID - in this case the call can be made on terminal tail shape! You have a Euro-roller here... It lacks the tail shafts of the lilac bird

Thanks Johan
Does a juvenile LBR also have tail shafts?

Thanks for helping us, Johan

Hi Freda, you are right - a juvinile LBR will not show its tail shafts, but its colouring is a faded version of that of the adult, so distinct as not to be confuseable with any other roller. I was a bit quick on the draw with the previous reply, simply because (for me) the colour of your roller already says "European". Below I have two examples of lilac-breasted rollers, one of an adult and one of a juvinile bird. Normally juviniles' colour are more washed out than in my example, but still unmistakebly recognisable.

BTW, Zypresse/Freda, check out the fantastic write-ups done by Jose here and here. These articles have great pointers on how to differentiate between the two birds at all stages of its development. As a further bit of info (not noted in either article) - the European roller is about 20% larger than the lilac-breasted roller; not that it helps that much in the field!

I have been reading Roberts V11 all day, Johan, and my arms are tired, but still SO is not convinced

RVII, hey, impressive Freda. No wonder your arms (and probably your head too) are feeling tired. When using the RVII it feels as if you are back in varsity - every paragraph must be dissected and digested virtually phrase-by-phrase, often with the help of cross-references. I personally expected a great deal more visual assistance when I ordered my copy, you know, like images of females, juveniles and birds in different stages of molting. However, the lack of visual ID aids is the only drawback – I will not now let my RVII go for any price.

You know it has wonderful (other) uses – like
1. An upside-the-head tool for stubborn SOs…
2. Also, you can balance your coffee on one side while you study the other.
3. I found it useful as a step to reach things in high places
4. A great doorstop
5. Ballast/anchor for when I am doing serious 4x4 trips
6. Self-defense
7. Extra cover when the tent is too small
8. Camping furniture (table or chair)
9. As a base for the jack when changing tyres in a sandy place
10. A nice prop-up under the pillow for when I do some light bedtime reading.

Jokes aside, I use my RVII extensively to learn more about birds, and sometimes (VERY infrequently) to confirm and ID. ID-issues are generally dealt with by talking to birding friends and looking at pix at resources like http://birdquest.net/afbid/index.php and http://www.birdforum.net/

European Roller

The calendar against my wall has got a pic of a European Roller featured for this month. Shows clearly some white just above the eye which is not mentioned/shown in the fieldguides.
But unmistakable an European Roller and same as your pics.

Classic ER, not LBR at all.

Thanks guys
It is so satisfying to be right for once, SO now owes me a trip
Think this birding may result in divorce, how will that sound in court

Freda... So, who's driving?

What about me????

Freda, you practically LIVE in Kruger, and go home for a break

Someone has to keep track of Jerry Hattrick while you are in Cape Town