Tauraco schuettii
The Black-billed Turaco (Tauraco schuettii) is a striking, medium-sized member of the Musophagidae family, a group often referred to as 'banana-eaters' despite their diet being primarily non-banana fruits. Measuring approximately 40-44 cm (16-17 inches) in length, including its long tail, and weighing 200-290 grams (7-10 oz), this species is predominantly emerald green, contrasted vividly by a prominent, deep crimson crest. Its most distinctive field mark is its entirely black, stout bill and...
This turaco primarily inhabits moist lowland and montane evergreen rainforests, as well as gallery forests and secondary woodlands, typically at elevations ranging from 400 to 2,200 meters.
Their diet consists predominantly of fruits, particularly figs and other berries, but they also consume young leaves, flower buds, and occasionally small insects, foraging actively in the forest canopy.
Black-billed Turacos are diurnal and largely arboreal, spending most of their time in the high canopy, often descending only to feed on lower fruits or drink. They move through the trees with remarkable agility, running along branches and leaping between them using their semi-zygodactyl feet for ...
The Black-billed Turaco is endemic to the Afromontane forest belt of Central Africa, with its distribution stretching across a significant portion of the Congo Basin and surrounding uplands. Its primary range includes eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and exte...
Least Concern
- The Black-billed Turaco possesses unique copper-based pigments, turacin (red) and turacoverdin (green), which are true pigments rather than structural colors, making them rare among birds. - These pigments are water-soluble; turacin can actually wash out of feathers if a dead bird gets wet, tur...