Eurystomus

Eurystomus is a genus of the roller, one of the two genera in that family of birds. It contains four broad-billed species, which breed in Africa, Asia and Australasia. Two species are restricted to Africa, one of which, the Cinnamon Roller, is migratory. The Dollarbird has a large distribution ranging from India to Japan and Australia. It too is migratory over the northern and southern extremes of its range. The final species, the Azure Roller, is endemic to Moluccas in Indonesia. In general they are open country foragers, occurring in woodland, savanna and farmland. Two species, the Azure Roller and the Cinnamon Roller are associated with rainforests but nevertheless require open areas in which to forage.

The Eurystomus vary from the other genus of rollers, Coracias in having proportionally longer wings and shorter legs. These morphological differences reflect differences in foraging technique, whereas Coracias rollers forage from a fixed perch and take prey by swooping down onto it on the ground, the faster and more agile Eurystomus rollers catch their prey on the wing. Unlike the Coracias they do not perform the "rolling" display which gives the family its common name.

Species

 * Broad-billed Roller or Broad-billed Roller Eurystomus glaucurus
 * Blue-throated Roller Eurystomus gularis
 * Azure Dollarbird Eurystomus azureus
 * Oriental Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis