Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) is found widely in southern Eurasia. This is found from the Persian Gulf east to India, Burma, and Thailand. This is also found in southern China and Tibet. This 12 inch roller has a blue cape and brown lower face. The back is green. The dorsal side of the wings shows blue and purple. The throat is purple and marked with white. The middle breast is brown, and the lower breast is blue. The tail is green. The wing feathers are brown and black.

There are 3 subspecies. The nominate subspecies is found in a large area from eastern Saudi Arabia east to northern India and Bangladesh. The subspecies indicus is found in central and southern India, and south onto Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and also onto some additional islands. The subspecies affinis is found from Bhutan and Assam east to parts of southern China and also south through much of SE Asia to parts of Malaysia.

Rollers (Family Coraciidae) are a family of seventeen species of birds primarily confined to the Old World tropics. However, Howard and Moore list only 12 species in 2 genera. (We note that Howard and Moore list 10 subspecies for Eurystomus orientalis found from northern India to the Solomon Islands.)

Rollers are flight acrobats. They can fly along and then just roll over or twist. Rollers feed primarily on flying insects. Most are very colorful birds.

Hornbills, rollers, and kingfishers (Order Coraciformes) are characterized by having their three front toes joined for a portion of their length. There are seven families in this order.

Aves contains about 8,650 different species of living birds known to science. Each year about one new species is discovered in some remote rain forest or remote island. In addition, scientists have been raising many subspecies to full species status which may raise the species count to 10,000. Birdlife recognizes 10,027 species as of 2011.

However, each year about one species goes extinct. The rate of extinction is increasing, and the rate of new discovery is decreasing, so that the number of bird species will soon begin to decline rapidly. Although different taxonomists would organize the birds differently, there are approximately twenty-seven orders of birds. These orders are broken down into about one hundred and fifty-five different families.

Recent research of the genetic structure of some of the shore birds and owls would indicate that the present organization of orders and families should have some modification.

The birds are a worldwide group of animals that are characterized by having the front limbs modified into wings that are used for flying. Perhaps the most unique feature of the birds is the feathers. These feathers are made up of a central support called a quill and a series of small filaments that are hooked together as barbs.

For many years it was believed that Archaeopteryx discovered in Bavaria was the oldest bird from about 150 million years ago. However, in l986, Sankar Chattterjee, a Texas paleontologist, reportedly discovered a bird in the genus Protoavis that lived about 225 million years ago.

When this project was begun in 1978, we used Austin & Singer for bird taxonomy. Since then, we have adopted many changes, but have kept some older concepts that are still found widely in the literature. Recently, we have used Clements and Howard & Moore. Very recently, we have used Monroe and Sibley for the higher taxonomy of the perching birds.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

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