CreatureData

Rufous-headed ground roller

Atelornis crossleyi Sharpe, 1875

NTNear Threatenedbirds

The rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi) is a species in the family Brachypteraciidae, order Coraciiformes. Recorded adults weigh 78.9 g to 79 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi)
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the rufous-headed ground roller

Weight
79 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the rufous-headed ground roller live?

Not recorded

What is the rufous-headed ground roller?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi) is a species of bird in the ground roller family, Brachypteraciidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. There are currently five known species of ground rollers. Four of these species live in the eastern and central highland humid forests. Unlike the four other species, the fifth species lives in the dry southwestern spiny bushes of Madagascar. The Atelornis crossleyi species of the ground rollers lives with most of its family in humid forests. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the bird to be near-threatened because, although it is present in a number of protected areas, it is hunted for food and the forests in which it lives are threatened by slash-and-burn cultivation. The bird's scientific name commemorates Alfred Crossley who collected mammals, birds, butterflies and moths in Madagascar and Cameroon in the 1860s and 1870s. Many of these are in the Natural History Museum, London.

From the Wikipedia article “Rufous-headed ground roller” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rufous-headed_ground_roller&oldid=1351899369), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the rufous-headed ground roller endangered?

The rufous-headed ground roller is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.

How is the rufous-headed ground roller classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCoraciiformes
  5. familyBrachypteraciidae
  6. genusAtelornis
  7. SpeciesAtelornis crossleyi Sharpe, 1875
Other names and names in other languages (42)
  • Crossley's ground rollerEnglish
  • Crossley's ground rollerEnglish
  • Crossley's ground-rollerEnglish
  • Crossley's ground-rollerEnglish
  • Rufous-headed ground-rollerEnglish
  • Rufous-headed ground-rollerEnglish
  • Rufous-headed ground-rollerEnglish
  • شقراق الأرض أصهب الرأسArabic
  • Ръждивоглава земна синявицаBulgarian
  • gaig terrestre cap-rogencCatalan
  • kurolec rezavohlavýCzech
  • kurolec CrossleyůvCzech
  • rholydd daear pengochWelsh
  • Rødbrun EllekrageDanish
  • LätzchenerdrackeGerman
  • Lätzchen-ErdrackeGerman
  • rufkapa grundokoracioEsperanto
  • Carraca terrestre cabecirrufaSpanish
  • ruske-maaraagEstonian
  • ruskomarhiFinnish
  • Brachyptérolle de CrossleyFrench
  • riđoglava zlatovranaCroatian
  • pettyesbegyű földiszalakótaHungarian
  • Coracia terragnola testarossicciaItalian
  • チャガシラハシリブッポウソウJapanese
  • Kroslio madagaskarinis žalvarnisLithuanian
  • VorombokaMalagasy
  • Crossleys GrondscharrelaarDutch
  • rustmarkråkeNorwegian
  • kurtokraska rudogłowaPolish
  • rolieiro-da-terra-castanhoPortuguese
  • rolieiro-terrestre-de-cabeça-ruivaPortuguese
  • Рыжеголовая земляная ракшаRussian
  • Кросслеева земляная ракша-ателорнисRussian
  • krakľovec hrdzavohlavýSlovak
  • bradata pitovrankaSlovenian
  • Modrovrana sa tla riđe glaveSerbian
  • rödbrun markblåkråkaSwedish
  • Boyalı YerkuzgunuTurkish
  • підкіпка рудоголоваUkrainian
  • 栗頭地寶鳥Chinese
  • 栗头地三宝鸟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the rufous-headed ground roller

Other species in the same genus Atelornis.

CompareRufous-headed ground roller vs Pitta-like ground roller

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the rufous-headed ground roller?

An adult rufous-headed ground roller weighs 79 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the rufous-headed ground roller endangered?

The rufous-headed ground roller is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

What kind of animal is the rufous-headed ground roller?

The rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi) belongs to the family Brachypteraciidae in the order Coraciiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rufous-headed-ground-roller

MLA

“Rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/rufous-headed-ground-roller.

BibTeX
@misc{rufous_headed_ground_roller_2026,
  title = {Rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/rufous-headed-ground-roller},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}