Livingstone’s Turaco

Tauraco livingstonii

Named for David Livingstone, haunts East African coastal forests. Crimson wings only appear when it decides to move.

Population: Not numerically quantified; described as fairly common through much of its range, with an overall decreasing population trend (habitat loss-driven)
Habitat: Afromontane evergreen forest, riverine forest, forest edge and thickets; subtropical/tropical moist lowland and coastal forest from sea level up to roughly 2,500 m elevation
Fun fact: Like other turacos, Livingstone's Turaco owes its vivid crimson flight feathers to turacin, a copper-based red pigment found nowhere else in the animal kingdom, which can actually wash out of the feathers in heavy rain.
Range: Southeastern Africa: an isolated population in Burundi, plus a broader band from southern Tanzania through Malawi, eastern Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and the subtropical coast of eastern South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal); occurs in six countries with an extent of occurrence of roughly 1-2.25 million km2 (BirdLife EOO ~2,250,000 km2; other sources ~974,000 km2)
Diet: Primarily fruit (figs and various berries), supplemented with plant buds and occasional nectar; forages by gleaning in the forest canopy
Size: 0.46 m
Lifespan: 13.6 years

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