Purple-crested Turaco

Gallirex porphyreolophus

A bulky, iridescent bird clad in deep purple, blue, green, and olive washed with pink. It clambers acrobatically through riverine woodland and savanna thickets. In flight it explodes from the canopy with distinctive deep red panels in the wings. It produces a distinctive croaking “khoh-khoh-khoh-khoh….” that gets progressively louder before suddenly stopping. The similar Ross’s Turaco differs from Purple-crested Turaco by being darker overall and having a red crest and yellow face.

识别特征

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.<p>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. porphyreolophus primarily consumes fruits whole like many other large frugivores which are suggested to be necessary for effective ecosystem functioning. Among similar turacos, the purple-crested turaco have faster minimum transit times when consuming smaller seed diets than larger seed diets, and G. porphyreolophus has been shown to have significantly faster pulp (seedless fruit masses) transit time than another closely related Turaco when fed only the pulp of larger-seeding fruits than smaller-seeding fruits.<p>Purple-crested turacos are primarily frugivorous and have been shown to disperse seeds that germinate comparably to that of manually de-pulped seeds. Turacos are important for seed dispersal and germination, but the purple-crested turaco's digestion of invasive plants still allows for high rates of germination and low seed retention. On the other hand, the invasive species Psittacula krameri (rose-ringed parakeet) has been shown to contain longer seed retention and lower rates of alien-plant germination.

分类信息

学名
Gallirex porphyreolophus
命名信息
(Vigors, 1831)
Musophagiformes
Musophagidae
Gallirex

分布与栖息地

They live in moist woodland and evergreen forests. They eat mainly fruit. It is found in Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Their southernmost occurrence is at the Mtamvuna River on the KwaZulu-Natal-Eastern Cape border.

迁徙
Resident species

保护状况

种群趋势
declining

照片

分布

鸟叫声

其他鸟类

White-banded Swallow

White-banded Swallow

Atticora fasciata

Small, unmistakable swallow of lowland rivers. Glossy black plumage, appearing metallic blue in good light, with bright white chest band is unique. Deeply forked tail is easy to see in flight. Almost always in pairs or groups, and can be particularly common in areas with high exposed banks, where the species nests. Frequently perches on bare branches and snags along the edges of rivers.

Paria Brushfinch

Paria Brushfinch

Arremon phygas

Range-restricted striking sparrow with black head and gray eyebrow. Back and tail olive-yellow, underparts gray; black band across chest. Found alone or in pairs or family groups on ground or at mid-level in dense understory, second growth vegetation at forest edges, and coffee plantations. Song and calls are repetitive and very high-pitched. No similar species in range. Endemic to the Turimiquire and Paria regions of northeastern Venezuela.

African Citril

African Citril

Crithagra citrinelloides

A small seedeater with a sharp bill and a forked tail. The upperparts are olive-green and the underparts yellow. Males have a black face and plain yellow underparts. Females have a plain face, but are heavily streaked below. Found at middle and high elevations in a variety of habitats including forest edge, gardens, cultivation, moist scrub, and woodland. Usually in small flocks. Similar to Southern Citril, but there is virtually no overlap in range, and the male is easily separated by its black face. The song is a fast jumble of high-pitched twitters and whistles. 

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