Purple-crested Turaco

This bird has a purple coloured crest above a green head, a red ring around their eyes, and a black bill. The neck and chest are green and brown. The rest of the body is purple, with red flight feathers.

The Purple-crested Turaco is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Purple-crested Turaco (Tauraco porphyreolophus) is a species of bird in the Musophagidae family. It is found in Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This bird has a purple coloured crest above a green head, a red ring around their eyes, and a black bill. The neck and chest are green and brown. The rest of the body is purple, with red flight feathers. They live in moist woodland and evergreen forests. More

tags: Purple-Crested Turaco, Tauraco porphyreolophus, birds, Image of the Day First in a series of non-passerine images by this photographer. Purple-Crested Turaco, Tauraco porphyreolophus. Image: John Del Rio . The turacos are classified into the bird family Musophagidae, which translates as "banana-eaters". Musophagidae also include the plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. Musophagidae are medium-sized arboreal birds that are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. They live in forests, woodland and savanna. More

Purple-crested Turaco - Extra Information Purple-crested Turacos Two of my Purple-crested (Webmaster) - 03/04/10 Hugh Chittenden, a wildlife photographer from South Africa, kindly sent me the photos below of Purple-crested Turacos which he took in the town where he lives, Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal. More

The Purple-crested Turaco can easily be identified by its dark purple crest and metallic green on the lores (the regions between the eyes and bill on the side of a bird's head) and face to the coverts. It features a salmon wash on anterior chest up towards the throat, around the neck and nape. The species typically measures around 42-46cm from beak to tail and weighs approximately 200-290g. More

Distribution of Purple-crested turaco in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common). See here for the latest distribution from the SABAP2. More

page 248 also a picture of the Purple-crested Turaco on page 256. The Purple-crested Turaco belongs to the family of birds classified as musophagidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Purple-crested Turaco is also known by these other names: Violet-crested Turaco, Purple-crested Lourie. In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Purple-crested Turaco was called the Purple-crested Lourie. The Robert's 7 Latin name for Purple-crested Turaco has changed from Tauraco porphyreolophus in Robert's 6 to Gallirex porphyreolophus. More

Purple-crested turacos have short, stout bills and males & females look alike. Dark purple crest above glossy green head; red eye ring; black bill. Neck and chest green in north, chestnut in south. Rest of body and wings glossy purple, with bright red flight feathers. The green colour comes from turacoverdin, the only true green pigment in birds. (Other "greens" in bird colours result from a yellow pigment such as lypochrome combined with the prismatic blue physical structure of the feather itself. More

The Purple-crested Turaco has previously been considered parapathic with Musophaga, though it does bear morphological similarities with Tauraco species. The nominate features a salmon wash on anterior chest up towards the throat, around the neck and nape. This is lacking in T.p.chloroclamys whose neck plumage is olive green. Robust dark purple crest and metallic green on the lores and face to the coverts make for easy identification. The species typically measures around 42-46cm from beak to tail and weighs approximately 200-290g. More