A large Ground-Roller, upperparts green, underparts white barred with brown, white band at upper chest, dark-blue head.
Found in dense rainforest, usually in low wet areas. Generally solitary (except when breeding). Scratches the leaf litter with its feet to expose insects, millipedes, worms and small reptiles. Stomach contents show that it also eats snakes and snails. (UICN 1990)
Possibly a night feeder, possibly nocturnal. Most easily seen in the morning and evening.
Breeds in December, digging a tunnel (~1m long) in which to build a nest, also nesting in tree holes.
IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre, viewed in July 2000, "Threatened Animals of the World", IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals
Langrand, Olivier; 1990: Guide to the Birds of Madagascar, Yale University Press
Sinclair, I & Langrand, O.; 1998: Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands, Struik
UICN le Centre mondial de surveillance continue de la conservation de la nature, 1990, Madagascar, Profil de l'énvironnement, Cambridge, U.K., App. 3