Purple-crested Turaco (Gallirex porphyreolophus) | Photos and ID

LCLeast ConcernFruit

WoodlandPlatform nestMedium · 259 g

ID tip

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. Purple-crested turacos are considered to be large frugivores that are known to carry cycad seeds from various plant species long distances from feeding to nesting sites. After fruit consumption, they regurgitate the seeds intact where they can germinate nearby. G.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Purple-crested Turaco

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Purple-crested Turaco

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 9 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

South Africa Zimbabwe Mozambique Eswatini Tanzania Malawi Zambia Kenya Rwanda

Recorded as a rare visitor in Uganda.

About the Purple-crested Turaco

The purple-crested turaco or, in South Africa, the purple-crested loerie, is a species of bird in the turaco clade with an unresolved phylogenetic placement. Initial analyses placed the purple-crested turaco in the family Musophagidae, but studies have indicated that these birds do not belong to this family and have been placed in the clade of turacos with an unresolved phylogeny. It is the National Bird of the Kingdom of Eswatini, and the crimson flight feathers of this and related turaco species are important in the ceremonial regalia of the Swazi royal family.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Rwenzori TuracoGallirex johnstoniThe Rwenzori turaco is a bird in the family Musophagidae.

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