Knysna Turaco / Knysna Loerie

Found almost exclusively  in South Africa, in the narrow strip of forest extending from Mpumalanga, through KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern and Western Cape provinces. Can be found also in Mozambique and Swaziland, though, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20 000-50 000 km, though most of its population is concentrated in coastal Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The Knysna Turaco, or, in South Africa, Knysna Lourie, is a large turaco – 40-42cm from beak to tail, 260-380g -, one of a group of African near-passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in the mature evergreen forests of southern and eastern South Africa. It is an unmistakable bird, although often inconspicuous in the treetops. It was formerly sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the Green Turaco of West Africa but vocal and chromosomal differences have now led to it being classified as a specie of its own.. The easiest way to identify it from other green turacos is by the white tip on its rounded crest. The Knysna Lourie has a sharply curved short but thick orange-red bill and a white line just under the eye that contrast with its mainly green plumage. It has a tall green crest, which is tipped with white. The eye is brown and the eye-ring deep red. In flight, Knysna Turaco shows conspicuous red primary flight feathers. Sexes are similar. This bird family is known as Louries in South Africa, but the international name is Turaco. Turacos  (the 10 species of the Tauraco and the 2 of the Musophaga) are the only birds to possess true red and green  color. When you look at most birds, the color you are seeing is a reflection produced by the feather structure. The turaco's red pigment (turacin) and green pigment (turacoverdin) both contain copper. In fact, if you stirred a glass of water  with a red turaco feather, the water would turn pink! In museum species, the pigments deepen with age because the copper begins to oxidize. These birds mannage to maintain their colors throughout the year. The Knysna Lourie is thought to use its red wing feathers to escape predators. Indeed, when it flies, the predators tend to focus on the most visible color and follow the red patch. As the Lourie lends and folds its wings, the red feathers of the wings become invisible and the Lourie has a chance of escaping unseen.