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The Knysna turaco ( Tauraco corythaix ) is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae . It is distributed in South Africa , Mozambique and Swaziland .
It was considered a subspecies of the Guinea turaco ( Tauraco persa ) of West Africa . T. schalowi , T. livingstonii and this species have also been considered to be all the same species, but vocalizations and DNA analysis have shown otherwise. Two subspecies have been described:
T. c. phoebus (Neumann, 1907) lives in northeastern South Africa and northwestern Swaziland.
T. c. corythaix (Wagler, 1827) inhabits southern Swaziland and southeastern South Africa
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This is a bright green bird with a short, hooked bill and bright red wings. The bill is short and strongly curved and is orange-red in colour. The eye is brown and the eye-ring is deep red. There is a white line just above and below the eye, with the white line extending from below to the back. It has a long tail which is mainly green: the wing coverts are a darker metallic green. The primary flight feathers are also bright red in colour. It has a tall rounded green crest with a white tip which distinguishes it from other green turacos. It is not sexually dimorphic . It measures 40–42 cm in length and weighs 280–380 grams, with the female being smaller than the male.
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This is a bright green bird with a short, hooked bill and bright red wings. The bill is short and strongly curved and is orange-red in colour. The eye is brown and the eye-ring is deep red. There is a white line just above and below the eye, with the white line extending from below to the back. It has a long tail which is mainly green: the wing coverts are a darker metallic green. The primary flight feathers are also bright red in colour. It has a tall rounded green crest with a white tip which distinguishes it from other green turacos. It is not sexually dimorphic . It measures 40–42 cm in length and weighs 280–380 grams, with the female being smaller than the male.
The Knysna turaco lives in a narrow strip close to the south-east coast of Africa. Its natural environment consists of tropical montane forests up to 1,800 m and plains and it also ventures into the scrubland known as fynbos .
This turaco roams the trees, jumping from branch to branch in search of fruits and seeds, which it swallows whole. They are usually territorial and live in pairs or small family groups, noisily defending their territory. In addition to fruits and seeds, they also eat insects and worms.
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It nests at different times of the year depending on the area. It builds a shallow nest of sticks in the branches of leafy trees or hidden in dense vines. In this nest it will lay a pair of eggs, of which only one will eventually hatch. The eggs are incubated by the female for between 12 and 21 days. The chicks leave the nest after 18 days but will not be fully independent of their parents until another three weeks have passed.
The Knysna turaco is eaten by local birds of prey such as the black-and-white goshawk and the tachiro goshawk .
This species of turaco is listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN , although its situation is expected to worsen in the coming years because the current population is known to be in decline. It is threatened by habitat loss, extreme natural phenomena resulting from climate change, the trade in exotic species, etc.
