Species profile
About the hartlaub’s turaco
Hartlaub's turaco is the turaco of the East African highlands: deep glossy green with a rounded blue-black crest, a small white spot before the eye and a white line beneath it, and brilliant crimson flight feathers that show only when it opens its wings.
It is restricted to montane forest between roughly 1,500 and 3,000 metres, which in Tanzania means the northern highland forests — Arusha National Park on Mount Meru, the Ngorongoro crater rim and the Kilimanjaro forest belt. Its harsh barking call runs through the forest at dawn.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Runs along branches with agility and glides between trees showing crimson wings. Feeds in the canopy and descends to drink and bathe.
Social life
Territorial pairs or small family parties; groups gather where fruit is abundant and call in chorus at dawn.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
Crimson wing feathers coloured by turacin, a copper pigment unique to turacos, and semi-reversible outer toes for gripping branches.
