Home › All birds › Indian roller

The Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) is a bird found in India and United Arab Emirates. Open land and farms across South Asia. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, reptiles and frogs and small mammals and birds. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Indian roller lives

Open land and farms across South Asia.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs50%
• 🦎 Reptiles & frogs30%
• 🐭 Mammals & birds20%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Indian roller

Recorded by Dipendra Maharshi (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1166791. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Indian roller

Where does the Indian roller live?

The Indian roller lives in India and United Arab Emirates. Open land and farms across South Asia.

What does the Indian roller eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 50%), reptiles and frogs (about 30%), small mammals and birds (about 20%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Indian roller endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Asia

• Streak-breasted bulbul
• Far Eastern curlew
• Malayan peacock-pheasant
• White-shouldered ibis
• Mascarene petrel
• Beck's petrel

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.