Animalia Life

Urocolius indicus
TAXONOMY
Colius indicus Latham, 1790, India, error = Gamtoos River, Cape Province, South Africa. Five subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Coliou quiriva; German: Rotzьgel-Mausvogel, Brillen- Mausvogel; Spanish: Pбjaro-ratуn Carrirojo.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
11.4–14.3 in (29–37 cm); 1.6–2.3 oz (45.1–65.9 g); in captivity to 2.5 oz (72 g). Upperparts gray with metallic greenish sheen; underparts buff. Tail is very long and slender. Bare skin around eyes and on lores is carmine-red. Most of upper mandible is red and the rest of the bill is black. Feet are purplish red. Subspecies differ primarily in intensity of plumage color.
DISTRIBUTION
Southern Africa from the Congo mouth, Angola, and southernmost Tanzania to the Cape.
HABITAT
Open woodland and savanna, moving widely for food supply; in recent times, more common in gardens and orchards in human settlements.
BEHAVIOR
Live in pairs or family parties, sometimes observed in larger groups.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Fruits and other green matter.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Eggs white with red-brown spots. Newly hatched young are naked with characteristic bulbous swellings at base of lower mandible. Grow quickly, flying after 16–18 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, but changing numbers noted in some areas following changes in vegetation.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Mostly none, but sometimes considered pests in gardens and other human cultivations.

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