Ross's Turaco

Musophaga rossae

Other Names

  Ross's Lourie, Lady Ross's Violet Plantain-eater, Lady Ross's Violet Turaco   Touraco de Lady Ross   Rossturako   Turaco de Ross       Turaco di Ross

World: Africa - From Angola east to Zambia and then N through Zaire to N Tanzania, Uganda, western Kenya as far as S Sudan. From there the distribution loops W with small isolated populations in the Central African Republic and Cameroon.

Kenya: Locally common in Western Kenya.

Found in the canopy of evergreen and riparian forest these birds avoid deep forest and often wander to more open areas with scattered trees. They are primarily fructivorous eating a wide range of wild and cultivated fruits and berries although they are also known to take snails and insects. Their striking colour comes from the presence of 2 copper pigments, turacoverdin and turacin, which are unique to the Musophagidae. Despite popular myth these pigments do not leach out of the birds' plumage in heavy rain! As with other Turacos Ross's Turaco is a clumsy flyer but it is superbly well adapted for clambering through trees having semi-zygodactylic toes with the 4th toe reversible.