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Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) Alternate name(s): "Oriental Dollarbird", "Oriental Roller", "Dollar Roller". "Broad-billed Roller" Aboriginal name(s): "dawdawgan", "jurgari" [bundjalung]; "didilnggurra" [ngadjon] Size: 25-29 cm Body mass: 70-125 g

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Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Dollarbirds are small rollers (cf. Indian Roller [Arabia] or European Roller [Arabia]). Dollarbirds have a deep dark-brown head and neck that tapers into the blueish-green body plumage. The tips of the wings are dark-grey; the leading edge is blueish-violet, as is the throat. The tail is dark brown-grey. In-flight, a (dollar-sized) light-blue patch shows in the primary flight feathers, giving the species its name. The bill is stout, slightly downcurved and very conspicuously red, with a tiny black tip. Outside the breeding season the colour of the bill more subdued. The legs and feet are also red. Juvenile Dollarbirds have somewhat duller colours than adults and the bill is dark; legs and feet are grey. Twitcher's tip There are three Australian bird species that display a white spot on their underwings: White-winged Chough, Pied Currawong and the Dollarbird. Out in nature it can be very difficult to see the true colours of a Dollarbird, which tends to look all-black in many different light conditions.

Taxonomy, classification See Dollarbird at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Dollarbird is available HERE . In total there are 10 races of Dollarbirds, which have a total range extending from far eastern Siberia in the North, via eastern China, Japan and Korea, into south-eastern Asia, from the South side of the Himalayas and southern India and Sri Lanka in the West to the Philippines in the East, southward into the islands of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, from the Andamans and the Maldives in the West to the Solomon Islands in the East, to Australia. In Australia, where they are breeding migrants from the North, only Dollarbirds of race "pacificus" are found. They can make landfall anywhere from the Kimberley, WA, in the West to Cape Melville, QLD, in the East. During the breeding season they are found mostly in the Kimberley and the Top End of the NT and in the eastern half of central and southern QLD, plus NSW. Given the right conditions they can disperse further inland outside the breeding season, especially into the Murray Darling Basin as far West as Bourke, NSW (but not into the Paroo River catchment). Outside the breeding season they can also be found in the border region of the NT and QLD and all over Cape York peninsula. Dollarbirds usually settle in woodland and forests with tall trees, always near water courses, often in River Red Gums, where they tend to find suitable nest hollows. Where to look? How to find this species? The easiest way to find Dollarbirds is to look for dead trees, often along (potentially dry) water courses where they are often perched for extended periods of time, issuing their territorial calls.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "pacificus" Dollarbirds, race "pacificus", are easy to see in the tops of tall dead trees and their squawking makes them audible over considerable distances. They are spring/summer breeding migrants to the area around Narrabri, and elsewhere in inland NSW, where we have found them regularly in various locations, usually near inland inland waterways, since 2003. Dollarbirds are also seen and heard by us regularly at, and reported to us by various contributors from, various locations to the East of the Great Dividing Range, along the coastlines of NSW and QLD. P. Brown reports finding Dollarbirds, race "pacificus", regularly in various locations in and around Darwin, NT. R. Plumtree reports spotting a Dollarbird, race "pacificus", at Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, for the first time in February 2016. This location is at the southern end of the species' range.

Photos

Race "pacificus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Close-up frontal view of an adult Dollarbird; note the characteristic blue throat patch and the black tip of its bill
(photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Mareeba, QLD, October 2020]

Close-up frontal view of a wet Dollarbird (photo courtesy of C. Linfoot)
[Hervey Range, near Townsville, QLD, January 2023]

Frontal view of an adult Dollarbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Priors Pocket Road, Moggill, QLD, November 2021]

Near-lateral view of a Dollarbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Spit, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

Near-lateral view of a Dollarbird (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2020]

Close-up near-lateral/ventral view of a Dollarbird
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2023]

Close-up lateral view of a Dollarbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, March 2018]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a Dollarbird
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a Dollarbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Spit, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

3 species of insect-eating migratory birds: Sacred Kingfisher, left, Dollarbird, centre, Rainbow Bee-eater, right
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Frontal view of a Dollarbird in flight - the wing flashes look like thin stripes (photo courtesy of R. Druce)

Lateral view of a Dollarbird in flight; the colour display is magnificent, showing a variety of blue and turquoise hues (photo courtesy of C. Kellenberg)

Lateral/ventral view of a Dollarbird in flight, with its two (old silver) dollar-sized white wing flashes clearly visible
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Adult Dollarbird, left, with an immature bird (photo courtesy of C. Linfoot)
[Hervey Range, near Townsville, QLD, January 2023]

Near-lateral view of an immature Dollarbird; this bird already has the plumage of an adult, but the bill is only just beginning to turn orange (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Leanyer Swamp, Darwin, NT, March 2019]

Close-up lateral view of an immature Dollarbird (photo courtesy of C. Linfoot)
[Hervey Range, near Townsville, QLD, January 2023]

Lateral view of an immature Dollarbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Leanyer Swamp, Darwin, NT, March 2019]

Close-up near-frontal view of a juvenile Dollarbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Holmes Jungle Nature Park, Darwin, NT, February 2018]

Near-frontal view of a juvenile Dollarbird; note, most prominently, the dark-grey bill and grey feet
[Near Narrabri, NSW, January 2021]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a juvenile Dollarbird
[Near Narrabri, NSW, January 2018]

Near-lateral view of a fledgling Dollarbird in distress (photo courtesy of L. Tonnochy)
[Near Townsville, QLD, March 2016]

Lateral view of a fledgling Dollarbird in distress (photo courtesy of L. Tonnochy)
[Near Townsville, QLD, March 2016]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Oct - Jan

Eggs: 3 - 5

Incubation period: 18 - 20 days

Fledging age: 28 - 30 days

Nest building: ?

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Tree hollow

Material: N/A

Height above ground: >8? m

Dollarbirds do not line their nests.

Near-lateral view of a Dollarbird sitting in the entrance to its nest hollow (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, November 2017]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 37 x 34 mm

Colour: White

Shape: Rounded

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

To the best of our knowledge, of all migratory species breeding in the southern parts of Australia, Dollarbirds are the ones with the shortest period of stay. They are the last arriving from the North and the first to leave again.

We have noticed over the years that, without exception, all Dollabirds spotted by us were seen close to a creek- or riverbed, even if these were dry at the time. Dollarbirds seem to have a strong preference for life in River Red Gums.

Food, Diet

Like all other members of the roller family (seen by us in Oman), Dollarbirds feed on large insects, such as e.g. cicadas, that they catch in flight and on small reptiles that they take from the ground.

Lateral view of a Dollarbird in flight with its prey, a cicada
[Near Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2024]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

dollar_20240122.m4a	pacificus (NW NSW)	Contact calls?	© MD
dollar_20180131.m4a	pacificus (NW NSW)	Contact calls?	© MD
dollar_20240102.m4a	pacificus (NW NSW)	Contact calls?	© MD
dollar_20180131_2.m4a	pacificus (NW NSW)	Territorial call?	© MD
dollar_20210110.m4a	pacificus (NW NSW)	(+ Aust. Magpie): Alarm calls (goanna)	© MD
dollar_20201006.m4a	pacificus (NW NSW)	2 birds interacting	© MD
dollar_20201006_2.m4a	pacificus (NW NSW)	2 birds interacting	© MD
dollar_pb_20201020.m4a	pacificus (Top End, NT)	Various	© PB

More Dollarbird sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.