Animalia Life

Corythaeola cristata
SUBFAMILY
Corythaeolinae
TAXONOMY
Musophaga cristata, Vieillot, 1816, Sierra Leone. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Blue plantain-eater; French: Touraco geant; German: Riesenturako; Spanish: Turaco Gigante.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
28–30 in (70–76 cm); male 1.9–2.1 lb (857–949 g), female 1.8–2.7 lb (822–1,231 g). The giant of the family, readily identified by its overall greenish blue and yellow plumage, blueblack crest, bright yellow bill, tipped red, long wide tail, and chestnut posterior underparts. Juveniles similar but duller and with much smaller crest.
DISTRIBUTION
Equatorial Africa from Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Ivory Coast east through Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Congo to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, northwest Tanzania, and western Kenya.
HABITAT
Lowland and montane forest from sea-level to over 7,000 ft (2,400 m).
BEHAVIOR
Generally found in pairs or family groups, feeding in tall forest trees. Highly territorial and vocal, with their loud guttural “cow-cow-cow-cow-cow” calls and deep, resonant purring notes a feature of the African rainforests.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Primarily a fruit eater, but also consumes large quantities of leaves and flowers when certain fruits become scarce. Recorded eating algae.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
A solitary breeder, generally laying two pale blue-green eggs in a nest that is nothing more than a platform of sticks with a shallow rim, but well hidden in a tall, leafy forest tree. Both sexes incubate for approximately one month, and nestlings climb outside of the nest a month later. The young fledge at around five to six weeks, but remain dependent on the adults for up to three months.
CONSERVATION STATUS
The most widespread of all turacos. Although not globally threatened, continuing forest destruction, hunting, and trapping for export will result in a decline in numbers in many parts of West Africa, most notably in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Togo.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Widely considered a delicacy over much of West Africa, as well as being a highly sought after species in the traditional fetish markets of Nigeria.

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