Biting off more than you can chew…

Written by - Jake Hoddinott

 

One of the most beautiful birds seen by safari goers in the savannahs of Africa is the Lilac Breasted Roller. A large pigeon-sized bird displays a myriad of blues and violet flashes as it flies. The name ‘Roller’ actually stems from the act of a male trying to impress a female where he flies up to a healthy height and clumsily lets himself tumble towards the earth pulling out in a graceful sweep just before hitting the ground. A remarkable thing about this beautiful bird is its awful call. It sounds like an old witch choking if you can imagine what that sounds like. It is a common occurrence that beautiful birds usually have bland or often horrid bird calls. This is due to the fact that they are not as reliant on their calls to attract mates and instead simply do it by strutting their stuff. Female birds here can be very fickle and go for the best looking ‘hotties’. Not like humans at all!

Lilac Breasted Rollers are known for their very healthy appetites. One morning out on drive I witnessed one of these attractive birds flapping around and banging its head madly on a branch. These and other birds will often use this head banging method to finish off a prey item. I noticed that it had a large and rather venomous centipede stuck in its throat. The poor little guy had let a little greed get the better of him and literally bit off more than he could chew. As the bird was in the process of swallowing the centipede the last few legs slammed shut around the bird’s beak in a last act of defiance before its acidic ending. Although the windpipe was not cut off (as the bird was still successfully breathing through its nasal cavities) it was obviously in a very uncomfortable position. We watched the bird for a good twenty minutes as it flew from tree to tree madly banging its bill on branches in an effort to dislodge the centipede. The Roller eventually flew off with the venomous creature still jammed in its throat. It is likely that the centipede would have eventually dislodged but if it didn’t the poor bird would have been in for an unpleasant demise.