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Cuckoos & Turacos

Schalow’s Turaco

Tauraco schalowi

• epic
• 41 km/h
• Least Concern

Has the longest crest of any turaco, an improbable green spike it carries through dense forest canopy without apology.

Population

Not numerically quantified by IUCN/BirdLife; described as locally common, with an extensive range (~3,730,000 km²) and a suspected decreasing population trend (1-19% decline over three generations) due to forest habitat loss

Habitat

Subtropical/tropical moist montane and lowland forest, riparian forest (notably along the Zambezi and Cuando rivers), and wooded inland plateaus/moist shrubland, at elevations of roughly 600-2,500 m

Fun fact

Schalow's Turaco has the longest crest of any turaco species, and like other turacos its wing feathers get their vivid red color from turacin, a copper-based pigment unique to the family Musophagidae.

Range

South-central Africa: Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (core range Zambia/central Angola/southern DRC/uplands of southern Kenya, northern-western Tanzania, western Malawi; local populations in riparian habitat in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe)

Diet

Primarily frugivorous as adults (fruit and other plant matter); chicks fed a more insect-based diet; forages in groups

Size

0.4 m

Lifespan

15 years