Species Spotlight

Species Spotlight: Indochinese Roller

April 10, 2026 by Kai Pflug No Comments

For some reason, whenever the HBW description of a species starts with the words “similar to but differs in …”, the more distinctions are listed, the more difficult it gets for me to actually distinguish between the two species. So it is the case for the Indochinese Roller (which I saw in Thailand), which was split from the Indian Roller.

I guess the scientific name of the Indochinese Roller (Coracias affinis) also indicates this. Affinis means related, and apparently (HBW), more than 85 forms share this name, which indicates relationship or similarity to another species.

Unfortunately, this similarity also seems to mean that very little research has been done on the species, leaving me to struggle for information that I can put down between the photos.

So I have to extensively quote eBird, which …

… describes it as a “brightly colored bird with various shades of blue on the wings, tails, and belly” …

… but criticizes the species for its harsh calls …

… and notes its preference for sitting on electric wires (any photo you see of the species sitting on something natural rather than an electric wire has probably been generated by AI).

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 22 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well. He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.