| Violet turaco | |
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| At Jacksonville Zoo, Florida | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Musophagiformes |
| Family: | Musophagidae |
| Genus: | Tauraco |
| Species: | T. violaceus |
| Binomial name | |
| Tauraco violaceus (Isert, 1788) | |
The violet turaco, also known as the violaceous plantain eater (Tauraco violaceus), is a large turaco, a group of African otidimorphae.
These are unmistakable birds, but shy and often inconspicuous in the treetops. They are approximately 48 cm (19 in) long, including a long tail and a 4 cm (1.6 in) bill. They boast a winglength of 21 cm (8.3 in) [2] and weigh approximately 360 g (13 oz). The plumage is glossy violet, except for the yellow forehead, chestnut crown and white ear coverts; the bill is thick and red. In flight, the violet turaco's crimson primary flight feathers contrast with the violet plumage. The red colour in the wings is typical of turacos.
It is resident of West Africa, and has an extremely large range from Senegal through to Nigeria, with isolated populations in Chad and the Central African Republic. It occurs in tropical savannas, wetlands, woodlands and forests.
Diet consists of fruit, and they are quite partial to figs, but they will also eat leaves, buds, flowers, insects, snails and slugs.
Cooperative breeding behavior has been observed in captivity in this species. They breed mainly during the rainy season, but the timing varies from place to place. As the breeding starts around April in Senegal and Gambia, while in Nigeria it occurs between June and October. [3] The female lays two eggs in a flimsy tree platform nest. Both male and female take care of the eggs and hatchlings.
This species is locally common, but is vulnerable to trapping for the pet trade in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana.
Turacos are social birds, travelling in flocks of around ten to twelve individuals. They are not strong fliers, preferring to hop along branches. When threatened, they can run quickly through the trees. [4] The violet turaco has a loud "cooroo-cooroo" call.
Media related to Musophaga violacea at Wikimedia Commons
The Guinea turaco, also known as the green turaco or green lourie, is a species of turaco, a group of African otidimorph birds. It formerly included the Livingstone's, Schalow's, Knysna, black-billed and Fischer's turacos as subspecies.
The beautiful sunbird, formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia, is a sunbird. It is native to tropical Africa, its range extending from Senegal and Guinea in the west to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya in the east.
The green wood hoopoe is a large, up to 44 cm (17 in) long tropical bird native to Africa. It is a member of the family Phoeniculidae, the wood hoopoes, and was formerly known as the red-billed wood hoopoe.
The western plantain-eater, also known as the gray plantain-eater or western gray plantain-eater, is a large member of the turaco family, a group of large arboreal near-passerine birds restricted to Africa.
The eastern plantain-eater also known as the eastern grey plantain-eater, is a large member of the turaco family, a group of large arboreal near-passerine birds restricted to Africa.
The African grey hornbill is a member of the hornbill family of mainly tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World. It is a widespread resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa and the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. The African grey hornbill has escaped or been deliberately released into Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.
The red-bellied paradise flycatcher, also known as the black-headed paradise flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird of the family of monarch flycatchers. It is native to intra-tropical forests of Africa. The male bird is about 17 cm (7 in) long and has a black head, a mainly chestnut body, and a tail with streamers nearly twice as long as the body. The colouring is somewhat variable across the bird's range. Both females and juveniles lack the tail streamers and are a duller brown colour. It is closely related to the African paradise flycatcher, and the two can hybridise.
The yellow-billed shrike is a large passerine bird in the shrike family. It is sometimes known as the long-tailed shrike, but this is to be discouraged, since it invites confusion with the long-tailed shrike, Lanius schach, of tropical southern Asia. The yellow-billed shrike is a common resident breeding bird in tropical Africa from Senegal eastwards to Uganda and locally in westernmost Kenya. It frequents forest and other habitats with trees.
The village indigobird, also known as the steelblue widowfinch or the Combassou finch, is a small songbird belonging to the family Viduidae. It is distinguishable from other indigobird species by bill and leg colours, the colour tinge of the male's breeding plumage, song, and to lesser extent, the nestling's plumage and mouth pattern. The bill colour can be red or white depending on the population, and there is some regional variation in the colour tone of the male's plumage.
The black-winged red bishop, formerly known in southern Africa as the fire-crowned bishop, is a resident breeding bird species in tropical Africa from Senegal to Sudan and south to Angola, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The red-billed quelea, also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch, is a small—approximately 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighing 15–26 g (0.53–0.92 oz)—migratory, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae, native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
The fox kestrel is a bird of prey belonging to the falcon family Falconidae. It is found in arid, open country in the northern part of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The white-bellied go-away-bird is a bird of eastern Africa in the family Musophagidae, commonly known as turacos.
The great blue turaco is a bird species of the family Musophagidae. At 70–76 cm (28–30 in) in length, it is the largest species of turaco. It has predominantly grey-blue plumage with an upright blue-black crest around 10 cm (3.9 in) high. The male and female have similar plumage. It is widespread throughout the African tropical rainforest.
The cardinal woodpecker is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It occurs in a wide range of habitats, ranging from dense forest to thorn bush. It is fairly vocal and is easily identified by its call notes. The sexes are distinguishable by their head patterns.
The tambourine dove is a pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird in woodlands and other thick vegetation in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Its range extends from Senegal east to Ethiopia and Kenya and southwards through eastern Africa to south-eastern South Africa, but it is absent from the drier areas of south-western Africa. There is a population on the Comoros Islands.
The Knysna turaco, or, in South Africa, Knysna loerie, is a large turaco, one of a group of African musophagidae birds. It is a resident breeder in the mature evergreen forests of southern and eastern South Africa, and Eswatini. It was formerly sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the green turaco of West Africa. The Livingstone's and Schalow's turacos were once considered subspecies.
The grasshopper buzzard is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which is found in a narrow zone of sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator.
Ross's turaco or Lady Ross's turaco is a mainly bluish-purple African bird of the turaco family, Musophagidae.
The whistling cisticola is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It can be found in several regions within Africa, such as Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats include subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and moist savanna.
Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1
| Authority control databases: National |
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