Animalia Life

Musophaga rossae
SUBFAMILY
Musophaginae
TAXONOMY
Musophaga rossae, Gould, 1851, West Coast of Africa (precise locality unknown). Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Lady Ross’s violet plantain-eater; French: Touraco de Lady Ross; German: Rossturako; Spanish: Turaco de Ross.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
20–21 in (50–53 cm); male 13.8–15.7 oz (390–444 g), female 13.9–14.0 oz (395–398 g). A striking large, glossy violet-blue turaco, with conspicuous crimson crest, yellow bill and frontal shield, while in flight, the brilliant red primaries contrast sharply with the dark violet-blue body and tail. Juveniles lack frontal shield; crown of head is black with small red patch in the center.
DISTRIBUTION
Widely distributed in central and eastern Africa from the Dem. Rep. Congo, Uganda and western Kenya south to eastern Angola and northern Zambia. Extralimital populations occur in the northern Central African Republic, Cameroon, northeast- ern Gabon, and at scattered localities along the Caprivi Strip and in the Okavango Delta region of northwestern Botswana.
HABITAT
Typically a bird of the gallery forests and riverine woods from around sea level to over 5,000 ft (1,750 m), but reaching 8,200 ft (2,500 m) in montane forests along the southern Sudan/northeastern Uganda border.
BEHAVIOR
Generally found in pairs or family groups, with much calling between individuals and nearby groups. Some seasonal movement into deciduous thickets and Brachystegia woodlands at onset of the rains in Zambia and Botswana, presumably related to the emergence of fruiting trees. Highly territorial and aggressive towards other turacos when breeding.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Largely frugivorous, but diet frequently supplemented with flowers, shoots, and flying termites. Will also feed on cultivated fruits such as guavas and loquats where available.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
One or two almost cylindrical creamy white eggs are laid in a rather flimsy, pigeon-like platform of twigs, generally well hidden in dense tree foliage, mistletoe, or creepers. Incubation shared by both sexes for 24–26 days. On hatching the young are covered in dark brown down. Nestlings begin to climb out of the nest into nearby branches after 24 days, and generally leave the nest tree after a month, but remain with the adults for several weeks.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Although not considered a threatened species, as all African forests and woodlands continue to shrink and give way to subsistence agriculture, it is the gallery and riverine forests that are being destroyed most rapidly. Formerly traded in some numbers from East and Central Africa, but trade appears to have declined in recent years. habitat loss is the most serious threat facing this species.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Feathers, particularly from the red primaries, are used to decorate ceremonial Masai headdresses in southwestern Kenya.

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