How do you identify a Short-legged Ground Roller?

The short-legged ground roller has a large head and bill, and a puffy throat. Full identification notes are on this page.

How big is a Short-legged Ground Roller?

The Short-legged Ground Roller is a medium sized bird weighing about 185 g.

Where can you see a Short-legged Ground Roller?

The Short-legged Ground Roller is endemic to Madagascar, which is the only country where it occurs.

What birds look similar to a Short-legged Ground Roller?

The Short-legged Ground Roller is most easily confused with the Rufous-headed Ground Roller, the Scaly Ground Roller and the Long-tailed Ground Roller.

Is the Short-legged Ground Roller endangered?

The Short-legged Ground Roller is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Short-legged Ground Roller

Brachypteracias leptosomus

Ground Rollers · Coraciiformes · Legendary

The Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus) is a legendary ground roller found only in Madagascar, weighing about 185 g. The short-legged ground roller is a species of bird in the ground roller family Brachypteraciidae.

VulnerableLegendaryEndemicEats invertebratesforestcavity nest185 g

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 1 — Photo: (c) Frank Vassen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 2 — Photo: David Weisenbeck · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 3 — Photo: David Weisenbeck · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 4 — Photo: Louis Aureglia · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 5 — Photo: Louis Aureglia · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 6 — Photo: Louis Aureglia · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 7 — Photo: Louis Aureglia · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 8 — Photo: Louis Aureglia · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 9 — Photo: Лариса Артемьева · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus), photo 10 — Photo: martin ingemansson · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

About the Short-legged Ground Roller

The short-legged ground roller is a species of bird in the ground roller family Brachypteraciidae. It is the only living species in the genus Brachypteracias and is endemic to Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

How to identify it

The short-legged ground roller has a large head and bill, and a puffy throat. It is the largest forest ground roller, and is stouter than the other species (except for the scaly ground roller). It measures 30 to 38 cm (12–15 in) in length, and weighs 154–217 g (5.4–7.7 oz). Where sexed individuals have been weighed, the males were heavier, but the sample size was small. Females are smaller in other body measurements, for example the wing chord length, which is 138 to 143 mm (5.4–5.6 in) in females compared to 140 to 152 mm (5.5–6.0 in) in males.

Where it lives

Madagascar

When to see it

Best months: August, September, October, November, December, with peak activity in November. It is a variable species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

How do you identify a Short-legged Ground Roller?: The short-legged ground roller has a large head and bill, and a puffy throat. Full identification notes are on this page.
How big is a Short-legged Ground Roller?: The Short-legged Ground Roller is a medium sized bird weighing about 185 g.
Where can you see a Short-legged Ground Roller?: The Short-legged Ground Roller is endemic to Madagascar, which is the only country where it occurs.
What birds look similar to a Short-legged Ground Roller?: The Short-legged Ground Roller is most easily confused with the Rufous-headed Ground Roller, the Scaly Ground Roller and the Long-tailed Ground Roller.
Is the Short-legged Ground Roller endangered?: The Short-legged Ground Roller is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Learn the Short-legged Ground Roller for real

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