Great Blue Turaco

Great Blue Turaco
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cuculiformes
Family:	Musophagidae
Genus:	Corythaeola Heine, 1860
Species:	C. cristata
Binomial name
Corythaeola cristata (Vieillot, 1816)

The Great Blue Turaco, Corythaeola cristata, is a turaco, a group of African near-passerines. It is not only the largest turaco but the largest species in the diverse Cuculiformes order (which includes the cuckoos). Generally, the Great Blue Turaco is 70–76 cm (28–30 in) in length with a mass of 800–1,231 g (1.8–2.71 lb).^[1] In the Bandundu province of the DR Congo, the Great Blue Turaco is actively hunted for meat and feathers. The blue and yellow tail feathers are prized for making good luck talismans. In the area of Bandundu around the city of Kikwit, it is called "Kolonvo".

Photographed at Bigodi Swamp, Uganda

References

1. ^ CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), ISBN 978-0849342585.

• BirdLife International (2004). Corythaeola cristata. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Great Blue Turaco