Most Colorful Birds on the Planet (And Where to Find Them)

11. Lilac-breasted Roller
Latin name: Coracias caudatus
Unique colorful feature: Lilac throat with multicolored body
Where they are found: Eastern and Southern Africa
Size: Length: 14.5 inches (37 cm); Weight: 3.6 ounces (104 g)
Diet: insects, arthropods, and small rodents
It’s no wonder that the lilac-breasted roller is the unofficial national bird of both Kenya and Botswana. Who wouldn’t want to claim one of the world’s most colorful birds?

This little birdie looks like he was splattered with a set of brilliant pastel paint colors, ranging from his lilac throat and chest to blue-green head and nape, violet wings, blue underparts, and brown shoulders.


With both male and female of this species looking similar in appearance, these birds diet on grasshoppers, lizards, scorpions, beetles, crabs, snails, and rodents.

Like other rollers, this lilac-breasted species knows how to put on an impressive courtship display by diving and rolling in the air with loud and rowdy sounds.

These monogamous birds prefer to nest in ready made holes previously created by kingfishers and woodpeckers. They usually lay 2 to 4 eggs which are incubated by both parents.