Violaceous Turacos aka Violet Turacos

Violaceous Turacos aka Violet Turacos

The Violet Turacos reside in the forests of tropical West Africa. Senegambia, Southwest Mali, Burkina Faso, South Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon.

They are absent from Sierra Leone, but isolated populations can be found along the Chad / Central African Republic border.

These are distinctive birds, although often inconspicuous in the treetops. They can be see in open woodland, in riverine forest and humid forest edge.

Description:

The Violet Turaco is a large turaco – they are 45cm long, including a long tail. They are quiet unmistakable, although often inconspicuous in the treetops.

Their plumage is glossy violet except for the thick red bill, yellow forehead and chestnut crown. In flight, Violet Turaco’s crimson primary flight feathers contrast with the violet plumage.

Diet:

It feeds on fruit, especially figs, and some seeds.

Nesting / Breeding:

This species is a common breeder in climax forest with plentiful tall trees. It lays two eggs in a tree platform nest.

Call:

Violet Turaco has a loud cooroo-cooroo call.

Touraco / Turaco InformationTuraco SpeciesTuracos as PetsBreeding the Turaco

 
 
 
 
 
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Gordon Ramel

Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oh - and he wrote this website.

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