Fun Guinea Turaco Facts For Kids
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Do you love colorful birds, like the scarlet macaw? Then you'll love to read about another gorgeous colorful bird species, the Guinea turaco. The Guinea turaco (Tauraco persa) belongs to the genus Tauraco, order Musophagiformes, and phylum Chordata of animals.
These birds are also known as the green lourie or green turaco. The upper parts of the bird's body including grass-green colored erect crest, neck, and breast, while the lower parts are dull black colored with purple or metallic violet gloss. Another striking feature is its brilliant green-blue plumage.
This medium-sized bird is known to be a herbivorous animal. They only feed on plant matter, like flowers, buds, and fruits. There are three subspecies under this bird species, and the geographic range is divided according to the species. The breeding season of the birds varies according to the geographical range of the birds.
Read on to know more about the Guinea turacos, and if you liked this article, then also check out great blue turaco and blue-winged parrotlet.
Guinea Turaco Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a Guinea turaco?
Guinea turaco is a species of bird with a bright green-purplish-colored body.
What class of animal does a Guinea turaco belong to?
The Guinea turaco belongs to the order Musophagiformes and the class Aves of animals.
How many Guinea turacos are there in the world?
The population of Guinea turacos in an exact number is not known. However, they are known to be pretty common within their habitat range in the wild. As the birds are not facing any major threats anywhere around the world, their population trend seems to be stable.
Where does a Guinea turaco live?
There are three subspecies under the bird species of Guinea turaco, distributed in various regions across Africa. Tauraco persa zenkeri is known to live in Congo, Gabon, the West-Central African Republic, northern Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and South Cameroon. Tauraco persa persa lives in Ghana, Ivory Coast, and West Cameroon. Tauraco persa buffoni is found in Liberia to Senegambia.
What is a Guinea turaco's habitat?
The primary habitats of Guinea turacos are gallery forests and lowlands of West Africa. They are also known to inhabit places around water bodies, like rivers, lands with old secondary growth, and the edges of cultivated lands.
These birds generally occur at an elevation up to 0.7 mi (1100 m), but they have been seen living up to the elevation of 0.9 mi (1385 m) in Cameroon.
Who do Guinea turacos live with?
Turacos live in flocks that may consist of up to 30 birds.
How long does a Guinea turaco live?
The lifespan of a Guinea turaco on average is five to nine years.
How do they reproduce?
Turacos are typically monogamous birds. Their breeding season differs according to their geographical locations. The Guinea turaco breeds around October and June in Sierra Leone, around June-September and December-February in Gabon, and around August and May-June in Cameroon.
Information is not available about the courtship behavior between the male and the female turaco birds. After copulation, females lay about two white eggs. Both parents build their nest together and incubate the eggs for the next 21-23 days.
The nesting period for the chicks is about 26-28 days. The chicks can fly at about six weeks. They may either stay with the flock or leave the nest after 14-15 weeks.
What is their conservation status?
The conservation status of the Guinea turaco bird according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature is listed as Least Concern. These birds are not facing any grave threats to their population around the world. Thus, no conservation actions have still been taken for this bird species.
Guinea Turaco Fun Facts
What do Guinea turacos look like?
The Guinea turacos are medium-sized colorful birds, like rainbow lorikeets. The breast, erect crest, mantle, neck, and head of these birds are grass-green colored. Their back, rump, and tail, rump are dull black in color with purplish or violet glossy tones.
They have black-colored feet and legs. Even their under-tail and belly are dull black-colored. Their flight feathers are bright crimson-colored with black borders. They have narrow black stripes under their eyes and white patches above the eyes.
They also have narrow border-like white stripes under the black stripes. The brown eyes have scarlet eyelids. The bills of these birds are brownish red-colored with black tips.
How cute are they?
These birds are gorgeous with their beautiful glossy green, black, and purplish body color. They are also not aggressive unless provoked. It surely adds to their charm.
How do they communicate?
Guinea turacos communicate visually and vocally. Their usual call is repetitive harsh-sounding cawing notes. This call happens in a series of 10-16 notes, starting faintly and growing louder. Their alarm call sounds like 'rreh-rreh-rreh'.
How big is a Guinea turaco?
An adult Guinea turaco is about 15.7-17 in (40-43 cm) in length. They are slightly larger than rainbow bee-eaters and a lot bigger than bee hummingbirds. Rainbow bee-eaters are about 9-11 in (23-28 cm) in length.
How fast can a Guinea turaco move?
The exact speed at which the birds move is not known. They have strong legs, which help them climb and run very smoothly. Their short wings don't help much in the case of flying efficiently, which leads to weak and slow flights.
How much does a Guinea turaco weigh?
These are medium-sized birds. An adult Guinea turaco weighs about 8-10 oz (225-290 g).
What are the male and female names of the species?
Males of the species are called cocks and females of the species are called hens.
What would you call a baby Guinea turaco?
A Guinea turaco baby is called a chick or a hatchling.
What do they eat?
The diet of the Guinea turacos is herbivorous, unlike the scarlet macaw which occasionally feeds on small insects. Their diet consists of buds, flowers, and fruits from all cultivated lands and from the wild, as well.
Are they dangerous?
These birds are not dangerous or generally aggressive in nature. However, they are territorial, so they might get aggressive if you provoke or threaten them or if they see you approaching their nests. They also get aggressive towards other birds if they see other species approaching their nests, especially during the breeding season.
Would they make a good pet?
Guinea turacos, like other turaco birds, can only be domesticated if they are taken in from a very early age. However, the few things that need to be remembered are these birds need a large space to run and fly around. They only eat plant matter and they deposit their droppings anywhere, even when flying.
Did you know...
Turaco is the only bird having red and green-colored feathers. Their wings contain the red pigment turacin and the green pigment turacoverdin. So, if you drop a Turaco's red feather in a glass of water, you'll see the water turning pink!
Is the Guinea turaco Endangered?
No, the guinea turaco is not Endangered. They are rather common within their habitat range in the wild. These birds don't face any grave threats to their population yet.
How many species of turaco are there?
There are about 23 known species of turaco birds in this world. Along with go-away birds and plantain-eaters, they all belong to the family Musophagidae of animals. Go-away birds and turacos are known as loeries in South Africa.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these gray gull facts and gray-faced buzzard facts for kids.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our exotic bird coloring pages.
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management
Moumita DuttaBachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management
A content writer and editor with a passion for sports, Moumita has honed her skills in producing compelling match reports and stories about sporting heroes. She holds a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta University, alongside a postgraduate diploma in Sports Management.
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With a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Christ University, Bangalore, Pradhanya's passion for the English language and literature led her to explore the field of content writing, where she has gained extensive experience in writing, reviewing, editing, and fact-checking. She has also earned certifications in Google Ads Search, Google Ads Display, and Social Media Marketing, showcasing her proficiency in digital marketing.
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