Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Bird 2
When i was trying to climb a tree so i could find some fruits I stumbled upon this odd looking bird. The diet of the Cuckoo-roller is not well known, but a 1931 expedition found that chameleons and insects, particularly locusts and caterpillars are important food items. Stomach have often been found lined with the hairs of caterpillars, and other prey taken include grasshoppers, cicadas, stick insects and geckos. The principal foraging technique is to perch motionless watching for prey, then to make a quick sally towards the prey when observed. They will also forage from the air. Prey is caught in the large bill and dispatched by beating it against a branch. Males have a mostly velvety grey chest and head, changing gradually to white on the remaining underparts (demarcation between grey and white stronger in L. d. gracilis). The back, tail, and wing-coverts are dark iridescent green with a purplish tinge (especially on the wing-coverts), and the crown and eye-stripe are black. Females are mostly brown with strongly dark-spotted pale underparts (less spotting in L. d. gracilis). Juveniles are generally reported as resembling a dull female, but at least juveniles of L. d. gracilis are sexually dimorphic, and it is possible this also applies to the other subspecies.The bill is stout and the eyes set far back in the face. The legs and feet are small, and the feet have an unusual structure which has confused many ornithologists, but is now thought to be zygodactylous
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