Purple-crested Turaco (Tauraco porphyreolophus)

Cover image: Purple-crested Turaco by Lia Steen – Shellybeach, KwaZulu-Natal – BirdPix No.278791

Turacos, Go-Away-Birds and Plantain Eaters belong to the family MUSOPHAGIDAE. The family name literally means ‘Banana Eaters’ and all species are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. They are medium-sized arboreal birds with prominent crests, relatively short, rounded wings and long tails. They have semi-zygodactylous feet for clambering around in tree canopies. The turacos are noted for their peculiar and unique pigments namely, turacoverdin (green feathers) and turacin (red feathers).

Identification

Purple-crested Turaco sexes are alike and they are very attractively plumaged. When seen in good light, the face is brilliant emerald green and the rounded crest and nape are deep, dark, glossy purple. The hind neck, lower cheeks and throat are olive-green. The mantle and breast are pinkish-orange and the lower back, wings and tail are glossy bluish-purple, often with a green tinge in bright light. The underwings are slate-black and the flight feathers are vivid crimson, each with a blackish-brown tip. The crimson primaries are not often visible in the folded wing, but are conspicuous in flight. The belly and flanks are dusky-grey. The bill, legs and feet are black. The eyes are brown and the bare skin surrounding them is scarlet.

Juveniles are similar to adults, but the red in the wings is duller and less extensive.

In parts of its range the Purple-crested Turaco sometimes occurs alongside the Knysna Turaco (Tauraco corythaix), Livingstones Turaco (Tauraco livingstonii) and Schalow’s Turaco (Tauraco schalowi). The Purple-crested Turaco is distinctive and unlikely to be mistaken for these, or any other bird in southern Africa.

Status and Distribution

The Purple-crested Turaco is a locally common resident. It is restricted to eastern and southern Africa, from southern Kenya and south-western Uganda south through Tanzania, southern and eastern Zambia, Malawi and northern Mozambique to Zimbabwe and South Africa. In southern Africa it is found from northern and eastern Zimbabwe (with an isolated population in the Matopos Hills), to eastern South Africa. In South Africa it occurs mostly in moister, lower-lying areas, from north-eastern Limpopo down through eastern Mpumalanga, eSwatini (Swaziland) and much of KwaZulu-Natal, marginally reaching the Eastern Cape.

The Purple-crested Turaco is not threatened but may be under local threat in some areas due to the destruction of coastal forest, riverine forest and closed woodlands. However, it seems better able than other turacos to adapt to habitat changes. The Purple-crested Turaco is a popular aviary bird and is in demand with the international cage bird trade. There is currently no data to estimate the impact of this on local populations.

Habitat

The Purple-crested Turaco is mostly a bird of coastal forest and moist, closed woodlands, especially riverine forest and woodland, secondary forest and dense thickets on termitaria. They also move freely into drier woodlands during the wet season, including miombo woodland, Mopane woodland and Vachellia (Acacia) savanna. It also readily inhabits secondary forest, alien vegetation and suburban gardens. Usually occurs below 1 300 m, but up to 1 500 m in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe.

Behaviour

The Purple-crested Turaco is usually encountered singly or in pairs, but sometimes also in groups of 4 or 5 birds. Occasional larger groups of up to 20 birds have been recorded. The Purple-crested Turaco is resident and mostly sedentary, but is locally nomadic in response to the availability of fruiting trees.

Usually keeps to the canopy of trees. They are very agile when running along branches and through dense foliage. The semi-zygodactylous feet have reversable outer toes and are specially adapted for this purpose. They are also capable of running swiftly on the ground. The Purple-crested Turaco is not particularly shy, but is often difficult to see among the dark canopy foliage.

The Purple-crested Turaco drinks at any time of day, waiting for a while in vegetation near the water’s edge before flying down to drink. Sucks up water when drinking, in the same manner as pigeons. Also dips the bill briefly in water, before throwing the head back to swallow. The Purple-crested Turaco bathes frequently at streams, natural pools and in bird baths.

The flight is laboured and unstable-looking as it moves between trees, alternating between flapping and gliding. They seldom fly far and usually land in the middle of tree canopies.

The Purple-crested Turaco is a vocal species, and the call of one bird often elicits a response from another until the whole group is calling together. Their deep, ‘croaking’ calls that rise in pitch and volume are a familiar sound wherever these birds occur.

The Purple-crested Turaco forages in trees, perching the end of branches where fruit grows. They swallow small fruits whole and bite chunks out of larger fruit. The Purple-crested Turaco is almost entirely frugivorous. Consumes a wide variety of fruit including wild, exotic and Cultivated species such as Figs (Ficus spp.), Guava (Psidium guajava) and Mulberry (Morus australis). The young are fed on a variety of insects and also slugs.

The Purple-crested Turaco breeds in summer and is a monogamous, territorial and solitary nester. The nest is a flimsy, unlined platform of interlaced twigs and is usually placed 3 to 9 meters above the ground in a dense, thorny tree or an impenetrable tangle of creepers etc. One of the pair collects and delivers nesting material to the site while the other constructs the nest. Nest material is collected directly from the canopy by snapping off brittle twigs with the bill. They are not known to collect fallen twigs from the ground.

Eggs are laid from August to January in southern Africa. 2 to 4 pure-white, almost spherical eggs are laid per clutch. The incubation period last for around 22 days and parental duties are shared by both sexes. The eggs are covered continuously and are rarely left unattended.

As the chicks begin to hatch the adults start eating the eggshells. The hatchlings are brooded continuously for their first 7 days, but less so thereafter. They are fed on regurgitated food by both parents. The newly hatched young are semi-precocial and hatch in a relatively advanced state with their eyes open and their bodies covered by a dense coat of brownish-grey down. They have a carpal claw on the wing which enables them to clamber from the nest before they are able to fly. The young leave the nest after around 21 days but are only able to fly when they are about 38 days old.

Further Resources

This species text is adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Andries de Vries, Christopher Peter Small, Dave Rimmer, Joanne Putter, Lia Steen, Richard Johnstone and Robyn Dickinson is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Tauraco porphyreolophus, Gallirex porphyreolophus ( Alt. Scientific); Purplecrested Lourie (Alt. English); Bloukuifloerie (Afrikaans); iGwalagwala (Zulu); Chikurungadovi, Hurukuru (Shona); Purperkuiftoerako (Dutch); Touraco à huppe splendide (French); Glanzhaubenturako (German); Turaco-de-crista-violeta (Portuguese).

List of species available in this format.

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2024. Purple-crested Turaco Tauraco porphyreolophus. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2024/10/03/purple-crested-turaco-tauraco-porphyreolophus/

Bird identification, birding