Hartlaub's Turaco Tauraco hartlaubi Scientific name definitions

43 cm; male 210–270 g, female 195–275 g. Adult has forehead  , rounded bushy crest  and nape glossy blue-black, with a prominent white patch  in front of eye, itself separated from a white line  extending from gape to ear-coverts by a black loral patch and a narrow black line immediately beneath eye; chin, cheeks, neck, mantle, throat and breast green; lower back, folded wings and tail  deep violet-blue; rump blue-black; greater part of primaries and outer secondaries crimson; thighs and belly dull blackish, washed with green; eyes brown; orbital ring  and bare skin behind eye red; bill dark red; legs and feet black. Immature similar to adult.

Centred around Kenyan Highlands, extending into E Uganda (at Mts Morongole, Moroto, Kadam, Debasien and Elgon) and into N Tanzania (at Loliondo, Longido, Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro, North and South Pares and W Usambaras).

Montane evergreen forest  at 1500–3200 m; in C Kenya, also occurs in well-timbered suburban gardens around Nairobi and Nanyuki.

Primarily fruits  and berries  , particularly Chaetacme, Elaeodendron, Euclea, Trema, Duranta, Rawsonia, Podocarpus, Teclea, Vitis and Olinea; also eats the large, poisonous fruits of Acokanthera longiflora. In SE Kenya, fed on Allophylus abyssinicus, Canthium oligocarpum, Maesa lanceolata, Rapanea melanophloeos and Xymalos monospora, among others (2 Githiru, M., Lens, L., Bennun, L.A. and Ogol, C. (2002). Effects of site and fruit size on the composition of avian frugivore assemblages in a fragmented Afrotropical forest. Oikos. 96(2): 320–330. Close ). In Nairobi suburbs frequently feeds on exotic fruits such as Cotoneaster, while at other times will also take caterpillars, moths and beetles. Will congregate in groups of up to 20 birds at fruiting trees (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Occasionally visits ground to drink (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Main call  (given especially morning and evening) is series of c. 12 loud  , throaty “kwa” notes uttered over c. 4 seconds, the first 3–4 notes given rapidly, followed by a slight hesitation, then the last notes slower and uniform; also a coarse large-monkey-like growl, a raucous or staccato “chut chut” or “chek chek”, a purring note or “puit puit” in anxiety, with a “kak kak kwak kwak” in alarm, continuous “quark quark” in courtship, or single “quark” when taking flight, while bird on nest repeats “whii caraw” up to four times in response to mate, and chick gives high-pitched “chu chu” 2–3 times (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Breeds Apr–Dec, with peaks coinciding with periods of high rainfall. Monogamous and territorial (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Nest a shallow platform (c. 20 cm in diameter) (4 Lamont, M. (2008). The nesting behaviour of the Musophagidae. Avicult. Mag.. 114(2): 2-12. Close ) of loosely interlaced twigs , sometimes lined with finer twigs, some 3–8 m above ground among thick tree (e.g. Rhus or Chaetacme) (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) foliage; continues to add to nest even during nestling stage (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Usually two (1–2) (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) round ovate, dull white eggs, mean size 38 mm × 31·5 mm (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ); incubation 16–18 days, by both sexes; hatching probably asynchronous (3 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Newly hatched chicks are covered in black down, and are fed on caterpillars and regurgitated fruit pulp; at 17–18 days able to climb all over the nest tree, rarely lingering in the nest itself, and can fly at c. 28 days. Initial nests commonly fail, and pairs soon nest again.

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Fairly common everywhere within its range, and still found to be locally abundant in many areas above 2000 m. Some populations in N Tanzania appear to have suffered a significant impact as a consequence of indiscriminate trapping for the bird-export trade.