The Great Blue Turaco is one of the extraordinarily beautiful African bird species and belongs to the Musophagidae family. These bird species are also categorized under the “least concern” category by the IUCN Red List.
Size of the Great Blue Turaco
The Great Blue Turacos are considered the largest species of Turacos with length of 70 to 75 centimeters and body mass of over 800 to 1200 grams. Because of their massive body sizes, they are generally not good flight-birds and will only fly to lower forest levels.
Classification
These birds were first classified under “Musophaga cristata” by Louis Vieillot (French Ornithologist) in 1816 then were eventually categorized in their own genus by Ferdinand Heine (German Ornithologist) in 1860. They are the only member in their subfamily of Corythaeolinae.
Physical characteristics
The exceptional Great Blue Turacos have mainly grey-blue plumage with upright blue-black crest of approximately 10 centimeters high. Both sexes have the same plumage hence difficult to identify them from their feather size. Adults mainly have grey-blue upper parts with upright blue-black crest, yellow-green lower breast, white chin and yellow-darkening to chest-brown color on their bellies. Their bills are yellow with orange or red tips, undertails usually change to chestnut, black and yellowish while their eyes are brown and covered by a ring of bare black skin. The Great Blue Turaco has black feet and legs with yellow soles.
Surprisingly, females are a little bit larger than males while juveniles have greyer breasts as well as shorter crests.
Habitat and distribution of the Great Blue Turaco
The Great Blue Turaco is common throughout areas of African Tropical rainforest, extending from areas of Guinea to the Imatong Mountains in the southern regions of Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, the western areas of Kenya, Angola and Tropical rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Much are they are predominantly found in the rainforests, gallery forests and verdant secondary habitats, these bird species have gradually started adapting to regions previously cleared by humans and can surprisingly even live longer in these areas.
Diet and feeding habitats
The diet of Great Blue Turaco primarily comprises of buds, flowers, shoots, leaves, seeds and fruits of different flora species, and sometimes insects. They can eat plantain, guava, mitzeeri and in Rwanda they were discovered to even consume leaves during seasons of reduced fruiting.
They spend the largest part of their day foraging for food much as they can sometimes take a nap during hot days. The mountainous forests and savannah areas that they occupy provide them with large quantities of food that they consume.
Breeding and Incubation
During the breeding season, Great Blue Turaco make beautiful nests extending for 8 to 25 meters above the ground (in trees). Their nests are comprised of sticks and after their round and white or greenish white eggs are laid, incubation is done by both sexes. The eggs are incubated in clutches of two for a period of 29 to 31 days.
They display interesting and entertaining courtship displays that include temporarily being interpretive dancers, becoming more vocal and territorial as well as moving to music that only they can enjoy during their mating season. They are generally social creatures with most of them living in troops of 6-20 birds and each territory has numerous fruiting trees. Small territorial groups of mating pairs are formed in the large territorial.
At the start of the rainy season, from October to early December and March to May, male Great Blue Turaco try their best to lure prospective partners by calling out loudly as well as raising and lowering the large crests on their heads. Partners take part in mutual feedings while males in competition with each other try their level best to have full control of their territory. Birders interested in spotting the Great blue Turaco can undertake birding tours in Kibale Forest National Park and the adjacent Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.
