The purple-crested turaco (''Gallirex porphyreolophus'') or, in South Africa, the purple-crested loerie, (Khurukhuru in the Luvenḓa (Venḓa) language is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the clade Turaco with an unresolved phylogenetic placement. Initial analyses placed the purple-crested turaco in the family Musophagidae'','' but studies have indicated that these birds do not belong to this family and have been placed in the clade of Turacos with an unresolved phylogeny. It is the National Bird of the Kingdom of

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

, and the crimson flight feathers of this and related turaco species are important in the ceremonial regalia of the Swazi royal family.

Description

This bird has a purple coloured crest above a green head, a red ring around their eyes, and a black bill. The neck and chest are green and brown. The rest of the body is purple, with red flight feathers. Purple-crested turacos are considered to be large frugivores that are known to carry cycad seeds from various plant species long distances from feeding to nesting sites. After fruit consumption, they regurgitate the seeds intact where they can germinate nearby. ''G. porphyreolophus'' primarily consumes fruits whole like many other large frugivores which are suggested to be necessary for effective ecosystem functioning. Among similar turacos, the purple-crested turaco have faster minimum transit times when consuming smaller seed diets than larger seed diets, and ''G. porphyreolophus'' has been shown to have significantly faster pulp (seedless fruit masses) transit time than another closely related Turaco when fed only the pulp of larger-seeding fruits than smaller-seeding fruits. Purple-crested turacos are primarily frugivorous and have been shown to disperse seeds that germinate comparably to that of manually de-pulped seeds. Turacos are important for seed dispersal and germination, but the purple-crested turaco's digestion of invasive plants still allows for high rates of germination and low seed retention. On the other hand, the invasive species ''Psittacula krameri'' (rose-ringed parakeet) has been shown to contain longer seed retention and lower rates of alien-plant germination.

Habitat

They live in moist woodland and evergreen forests. They eat mainly fruit.

Range

It is found in

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. Their southernmost occurrence is at the

Mtamvuna River Mtamvuna River is a river that forms the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape Provinces in South Africa. The river has a wide mouth and flows into the Indian Ocean just south of Port Edward. The Mtamvuna river is approximately 162&n ...

on the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

border.

Gallery

File:Purple-crested turaco, Tauraco porphyreolophus, at uMkhuze Game Reserve, kwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (15413446536).jpg, File:Purple-crested turaco, Tauraco porphyreolophus, at uMkhuze Game Reserve, kwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (15433321841).jpg, Image:Tauraco porphyreolophus 1838.jpg, Illustration by Andrew Smith, showing crimson primaries

References

* National Aviary
Purple-Crested Turaco
* International Turaco Society ITS Magazine 1993-2012 (Swazi References - Spring 2012 Clive Humphreys)

External links

* Purple-crested turaco
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1063701 purple-crested turaco Birds of East Africa purple-crested turaco Turacos Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fauna of the Eastern Highlands