Oriental Dollarbird

The Oriental dollarbird is a member of the roller family, 27–32cm long, named for the pale blue or white coin-shaped patches on its wings, which show well in flight. It is dark brown heavily washed with blue-green on the back and wing coverts, with a glossy bright blue throat and undertail and darker blue flight feathers. The short, wide bill is orange-red with a black tip in adults. Females are slightly duller, and immatures are much duller, with no blue on the throat and dark bills and feet (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is usually seen alone, sitting upright on a bare branch high in a tree, from which it hawks flying insects, often returning to the same perch within seconds. It prefers open woodland with trees that have holes for nesting. Some populations are migratory, including those that breed in north-east Asia and in northern and eastern Australia. Ten subspecies are recognised. In India it is a resident forest bird with a moderate range; SoIB 2023 finds its trends stable and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).