Hartlaub's Turaco Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Size & shape: A medium-large arboreal bird, roughly 40 cm (16 in) long, with a long tail, short rounded wings, and a tall, forward-curling green crest.
• Plumage: Rich emerald to bottle-green body and crest; a bold white crescent in front of the eye and a red eye-ring against dark facial skin; bright red bill in adults. In flight, the primaries flash a startling crimson-red, characteristic of true turacos (the pigment, turacin, is unique to the family).
• Bill: Stout, bright red bill, contrasting with the green face pattern and white eye markings.
• Behavior: Moves through the forest canopy and dense bush by bounding along branches rather than flying far; flights are short, heavy, and low, revealing the red wing flash. Often in pairs or small family groups, sometimes joining mixed-species canopy flocks.

Similar Species

• White-cheeked Turaco: Very similar green turaco but with a white cheek patch below/behind the eye rather than the white crescent in front of the eye; ranges are largely separate (White-cheeked further west/north in the Rift highlands).
• Great Blue Turaco: Much larger, blue-gray rather than green, with a different crest shape; unmistakable by size and color alone.
• Ross's Turaco: Lacks the white facial crescent, has an all-yellow bill and a different, more rounded crest; found further west.

Range, Habitat & Season

Resident of montane and highland forest, forest edge, and well-wooded gardens in East Africa, primarily in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and adjacent Tanzania, generally at elevations above 1,000–1,500 m. Non-migratory and present year-round; a familiar and often confiding bird in gardens and forest patches around Nairobi and similar highland towns.

Voice

A loud, far-carrying series of harsh, barking "kok-kok-kok-kok" or "kooo-koo-koo" notes, often given by multiple birds in a duet or chorus, one of the characteristic sounds of East African highland forest.