The Schalow's turaco (Tauraco
schalowi) is a frugivorous bird in the Musophagidae family. The bird is named
after Herman Schalow, actually a mature birds have, on average, the longest
crests of any turaco species. The attractive colors that pattern the plumage of
Schalow’s turaco are derived from two unique copper pigments within its
feathers, unidentified in any other bird family. This bird's common name and
Latin binomial commemorate the German banker and amateur ornithologist Hermann
Schalow. The Schalow’s turaco is found in the forested uplands and wooded
inland plateaus of south central Africa. The bird is replaced in the eastern
lowlands by Livingstone's turaco, which is similar in appearance and behavior. Like
other turacos, it is a medium-sized bird, with short, rounded wings, a long
tail, and a stout, curved bill.
An extremely prominent,
white-tipped crest adorns the head, while a ring of bare red skin surrounds the
eye, delicately bordered with fine, black and white stripes. The upperparts are
largely green, but noticeably darker over the mantle and wings. Moreover the
bird size is 41-44 cm, an average weight of 208 – 267 g. In spite of being poor
fliers, the forest turacos seldom descend to the ground. Instead, these shy but
gregarious birds utilize their extraordinary climbing skills to navigate the
tree canopy, skipping nimbly from branch to branch. When unassailable gaps do
eventually necessitate flight, they take to the air with a few earnest flaps to
the next tree, before clambering back up into the leafy crown.
It is mainly distributed in
Zambia, central Angola, the southern DRC, and the uplands of southern Kenya,
northern and western Tanzania and western Malawi. The bird occurs very locally
in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, where it frequents riparian habitats of the
Zambezi and Cuando Rivers. Moreover
during flight its feathers are crimson, and the tail is deep, bluish black to
violet. In common with all turacos, the feet have a distinct joint that lets
the outer toe to move either forward or backward, an attribute that enables
this bird to move dextrously through vegetation. Schalow’s turaco was formerly
believed to be a subspecies of Tauraco persa, along with T. livingstonii and T.
corythaix.
Furthermore, just like other
turacos species, it feed mainly on fruit, though the young are perhaps fed a
protein rich diet of invertebrates. Nevertheless turacos generally forage in groups;
breeding is a solitary affair, with monogamous pairs fiercely defending their
territories. The bird courtship includes much calling, chasing and general
exhibition, with spreading their wings to display the striking crimson patches.
The bird nest is mostly flimsy is a shallow platform of loose twigs, positioned
3-10 metres above the ground in thick foliage. Moreover, a clutch size of two
is typical, and the downy chicks hatch after an incubation period of 20 to 22
days, devotedly taken care by both sexes. The precocious chicks do not linger
long in the nest, and within 2 to 3 weeks, are clambering through the branches
of the nest tree, a full week or two before they learn to fly.
