We greatly enjoyed the AGM the other day. Retirement looms and I will try and get more involved!

With regard to the turaco found in West Sussex, could anyone who has lost one contact me at home:

E-mail address: fleming.pr@googlemail.com

Tel. 01273 812814

Many thanks,
Patrick.

I am a second year acting student at a South London drama school. As part of my course this term I am doing "animal studies" i.e. we all went to London Zoo and choose an animal, and we now have to "embody" that animal for 10 weeks. In a moment of madness I chose a Hartlaub's Turaco (I love the bird, but it would have been so much easier to be a tiger or something!).

I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me with my research: if you have any photos, videos or statistics that you would be able to email me, or could recommend any books or websites that are interesting, please get in touch. I am particularly looking at things such as how they move (preferably in the wild), their heartbeat and breathing rate, their skeletal structure and spine shape, etc.

Many thanks for any information you are able to provide.
Regards,
Tom.

tomskitt@hotmail.co.uk

The story starts 20yrs ago when I went to the National in Birmingham. There I saw these Hartlaubs touracos in an aviary. Well I thought they were fantastic looking birds, like punk rockers of the bird world. I determined then I would have one some day.
About 3 or 4 yrs later when I'd got my birdshed and flights built, and had quite a few breeding successes, I thought it was time to treat myself. So I sent off to a bird dealer in the south of England for a hen Hartlaubs, (yes, Clarence was a hen, it's just my warped sense of humour that named her Clarence), and I was told she would arrive by courier the next day.
Next day I waited in all day, no sign of the courier. Around teatime I phoned the dealer who assured me she had been dispatched. He couldn't reach the courier, so I just had to wait and hope everything would be OK.
Next morning 8am there's a knock on the door, it's the courier with a very special delivery. It seems there was a problem with the van and the bird had to stop overnight in a garage in Wolverhampton. I should explain at the time I was living in Langholm in the Scottish borders, so you see it would have been a long journey anyway without a delaying sidetrip to Wolverhampton. So I checked she was still alive and signed for the delivery.
If you don't know what kind of box they use for transporting large softbills I'll try to explain (bear with me here it has a direct bearing on what's to come). If you know what a British no.7 show cage looks like you'll have some idea, but imagine this cut down to 1/3rd depth and about 2/3rds length with no bars but a 3in wide slot along the top front edge with chicken wire covering the slot, you can appreciate it's gonna be pretty gloomy inside.
When I got this box into the living room and had a proper look inside I could see this sad looking pair of eyes looking back at me, it was then I realised there was no food or water left in the cage. I offered her a grape thro' the mesh, not really expecting her to take it, but take it she did and it disappeared in one gulp. So I offered her another and another each going down the same way each one followed by a strange purring sound of pleasure.
Now it was time to put her in the cage I'd prepared for her. There was food and water aplenty in there and she soon made short work of it. So by the time the kids came in from school she was well fed and contented. There was a squeal of delight from my daughter when she saw Clarence and she was even more delighted when she was allowed to hand feed her through the cage bars. My son just said I was a nutcase for calling her Clarence, but he still had a go at hand feeding her. Remember this was a wild caught bird, so for her to settle in as quick as she did was most unusual.
Now, when I acquired any new birds I always kept them separate from my other birds for at least a fortnight, more often than not in the house, as this gets them used to the noise and movement of people and ensures no diseases are passed on to other birds. However with Clarence things were going to turn out quite differently!
She was extremely content in her cage, and would even let us stroke her through the bars. I had been spraying her in her cage as there was no room in her cage for a bath. She loved this, would even turn round and lift her wings on command to let me soak her all over. As she seemed to be getting tamer and tamer I decided to try something different one day. I put a towel down on the carpet and on top of this I put a square plastic washing up bowl of luke warm water. I gently lifted her out of her cage, she never struggled, as she had been watching me preparing I think she knew what was coming. As soon as I lowered her into the water and let go she went at it like a good 'un. There was water flying everywhere, I was soaked, the towel was soaked and so were the walls, much to everyone's amusement. After she'd had enough she hopped out onto the carpet and gave herself a good shaking, but still wasn't dry so I went and got the hair dryer, she absolutely loved this. So this was to be the future bathing technique, only from then on I didn't need to lift her out of the cage and into the bath, just opened the door and let her get on with it. This is her just out of the bath waiting for me to bring the hairdryer.

From then on she was let out of her cage just about all day, every day. And the antics she got up to, oh boy.
She was getting silly tame often sitting on my shoulder or on the chair armrest next to me watching telly. If I laughed at something on telly she would give my ear a gentle pull and look at me as if to say ''What's so funny then?''.
I had long hair when I first got her and she used to stick her head underneath and snuggle up close to my ear. When I had my hair cut shorter as in the last pic. she seemed to take offence that her hiding place was gone and would take my glasses off for badness.

One of her tricks was, when she heard the neighbours dog barking she would run along the back of the settee, look out the window and start shouting at the dog, very funny to watch but what a racket!!
I would sometimes buy the wife a box of Maltesers. Clarence liked Maltesers, if the box was left open on the coffee table she would jump down and help herself and just like the grapes they would go down in one gulp.
If I was sitting with a meal on my lap I knew it wouldn't be long before Clarence would be sneaking up to see what she could pinch. If it was too hot I would tell her to wait, put something on the side of the plate to cool, then when I thought it was ok I'd tell her ''You can have it now'' and yep! that would disappear too.
My wife made the mistake of leaving a just lit cigarette in the ashtray while she put the plates in the kitchen one night. Now Clarence being the bright spark she was had noticed that we always had a smoke after a meal and must have felt left out because she hopped down picked up the ciggie by the filter end and jumped up on the back of the settee with it in her beak.(had a photo of this but can't find it) Trying not to laugh I had to tell her ''No'' and ''It's bad for you'' in a stern voice. She never touched a ciggie again.
Every night at about 9 o'clock I would say to her ''Bedtime Clarence'', and she would hop into her cage no bother, I'd say ''Goodnight'' get a purr of satisfaction off her and cover the cage for the night; always going to bed myself later on wondering what daftness she would be up to the next day.
I used to take her in her cage to 3 or 4 local shows each year, the kids there were thrilled that they could stroke her thro' the bars. At the shows that she didn't go to I was always asked by the kids (and a quite a few adults) '' Where's Clarence?''.
Anyway after a couple of years with this loonie bird, a breeder I knew (jealous I think) acquired a cock Hartlaub's and asked if he could borrow Clarence to try to breed them. I was a bit reluctant at first but he kept asking even offering me 75% of any money he made selling the young. So I finally agreed, still not too happy about it, but at least I could visit every week and watch progress. The breeding season came and went with no luck. She'd laid 1 round but they were clear. As the show season was approaching I went round to his house to get Clarence back only to be told she had died. What a shock I was stunned, couldn't think of anything to say containing more than four letters.
Just then his wife called me into the house for the coffee she'd made me. I told her I couldn't believe Clarence was dead, she said ''she's not dead, he's sold her'' . Then I really exploded , I stormed out to the aviary and demanded he told me who he sold her to. '' I can't remember his name, some solicitor in Warwick who has other touracos'' was the half-baked answer. So as he hadn't had my permission to sell Clarence I took his cock bird and told him he would not get it back 'til I got Clarence back. He never did come back to me with a name and address, so I sold the cock, it would not settle down (I'd put it outside in a flight) and bought myself a pair of snowy-crowned river chats with the money. No substitute for my beloved Clarence at all.
So ends the saga of possibly Britain's only hand tame Touraco, unless you know different.

Please, if anybody out there's memory is jogged, at least by the last part of the story, and can offer any information as to the whereabouts of Clarence, if she's still alive, can you contact me. I'd love to bring her 'home' to enjoy her retirement.
Thank you

m.d.kenny@btinternet.com

Last week we have studied turaco skins at the UK-Tring collection. We would like to discuss our findings with Joseph M. Forshaw.

Could anybody provide us a contact address of Mr. Forshaw?

lophura@pandora.be

Hello, I am a new member to the ITS. At the moment I have one breeding pair of White-cheeked Turacos. I have added a turaco page on my waterfowl web site and will be adding to it regularly. There is also a White-cheeked gallery page at:
http://www.freewebs.com/waterfowlgarden/index.htm

As a new member I have attended the last two AGMs at the Cotswold Wildlife Park and am amazed that other members do not turn up. When attending the AGM, members are also entitled to look around the wonderful Zoo and gardens - all for the cost of a £12 membership fee, which also includes two magazines a year.

In addition, why people have to be reminded to pay their fees continually and in the end many are deemed not to be members any longer through non payment, also amazes me.

Thankfully new members are also joining, but strangely more numbers are joining from abroad. For the interest in turacos to continue, I would make a heartfelt plea for people to attend the next AGM, meet fellow enthusiasts and put a combined interest in turacos.

At first I will introduce myself. My name is Jurriën den Hartog.
I am a student of a teacher’s education biology course.
For my studies I am following a course on behaviour.
My research subject is the White-cheeked Turaco.

I have myself two male White-cheeked Turacos - still looking for two females.

What I am looking for is information about their foraging behaviour, especially in competition with other birds.

What I would like to receive, are answers on the following research questions:

Do White-cheeked Turacos Tauraco leucotis leucotis
• form family parties?
• have a hierarchy?
• display social structures?
What is the influence of displaying a red colour on the behaviour of the turacos?
When turacos feed do they prefer certain kinds of food concerning: colour, structure, ripeness or taste?

I would be very pleased if you can provide me with any of the required information.
Any information is welcome.

High regards,
Jurriën den Hartog

I thought you'd be interested to know that we have two White-cheeked Turacos living quite happily in the wild in the grounds of my Company in Southampton. They escaped from a nearby aviary at least two years ago and are thriving. We regularly feed them fruit and they come right up to the windowsill for this.

Some further information and more photographs can be seen in the Members 'News' section of this website.

I am looking for photographs & experiences of field ornithologists & aviculturists who may have some first hand observations of the natural nest construction of turacos both in the wild and in captivity.

Please contact me at myles@hancockwildlife.org

Thanks.

I am a Taxidermist and have a Great Blue Turaco to mount. Unfortunately I need to replace several damaged tail feathers. I am therefore looking to obtain tail feathers for such a specimen. If anyone keeps this species and has kept any tail feathers shed during the moult, I would be very interested, and truly grateful, to obtain them.

Please contact me via my e-mail address.

Thanks.

Safaripark Beekse Bergen, located in the South of the Netherlands, close to the city Tilburg, has a pair of Buffon's Turaco (Tauraco corythaix/persa buffoni), hatched 2004 and a pair of Emin's Turaco (Black-billed Turaco) (Tauraco schueti emmini), hatched 2003 and 2004, but both of these are brother/sister pairs with the origin being Antwerp. We are looking for possibilities to establish an unrelated pair for both species. We would therefore like to exchange either the male or female for an unrelated individual for both species. People who hold unrelated individuals are asked to contact the curator of the park at the following address:

Lars Versteege
Curator
Co-chair EAZA Rhino TAG / EEP coordinator for Sloth bear / ESB keeper for Eurasian Lynx
Safaripark Beekse Bergen/Dierenrijk Europa
Beekse Bergen 31
5081 NJ Hilvarenbeek
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 135491209
Fax: +31 135491203
E -mail: l.versteege@beeksebergen.nl

I have a Turaco that appeared in my garden last December. The species was confirmed by the RSPB as I knew it was not a native to England. He has a dark head with white around his eyes, a shimmering green body and wings and lower torso dark blue or black. When he flies all the underneath of his wings are red, absolutely beautiful. I am surprised that he has survived the cold weather.

Do you have an idea from where he escaped and what type of turaco he is? I would be interested to know.

Hello, we have recently handreared a second White-cheeked Turaco on the understanding it was for a local wildlife park. When he/she (sex unknown) was around 3/4 months, just as his beak started to turn red, we tried to introduce him to a fairly large aviary housing one 3 year old White-cheeked Turaco. We started by keeping him in a separate cage in full view of the other bird and gradually moved him closer to the main enclosure but after finally releasing him into the aviary the older bird has continued to attack him. We have gone back to the separate cage and tried again but this is still proving difficult. I would be grateful of any advice or suggestions regarding introduction of young birds to older more established birds.

Suggestion: It will depend on whether you have any other aviaries available. If so then you could move the older bird out for a month or so while the younger bird gets used to the aviary. Then move the older bird back into the flight.
Do you know the sex of either bird? You may find you have got two males.
If you don't have any spare flights, then you could put in a temporary partition to add the younger bird into a section of the flight, until it is used to it.
Some people advocate clipping one wing a little on aggressive birds to slow them down, but that may not be a good idea with winter approaching.
Try adding extra cover within the flight, with a food bowl in the cover too, so the bird being chased can feed where it is hiding.

Hello, I am contacting you looking for some advice. During very necessary restoration work at the tropical greenhouse nearby a turaco hartlaubi took his (or her) chance to escape. Now its hanging around at my garden, probably enjoying some of the berries and fruit there. I am offering it a similar mixed diet like it received in captivity before and it has helped itself several times. Its favourite perch seems to be the fairly dense hazelnut bush.
Any ideas what I can do to catch it to be returned to the greenhouse?
Much obliged.

I have only once had a turaco out around my garden - a White-cheeked. It was while I had a mass of ripe plums on my fruit trees, but the turaco ignored them and came eagerly for a bowl of its usual diet which I placed in a Larsen (Magpie) trap. The bird was caught at its first visit. If you are unfamiliar with a Larsen, it has doors in the top of a wire cage which hinge down and are held open by a stick across. The stick is actually in two pieces, broken in the middle. When a bird lands on the stick it falls apart and the door springs up, trapping the occupant. (See attached) I placed the Larsen trap up on a frame in the tree that the turaco had been perching in.
Alternatively, if you have an empty flight you could leave the door open with food just inside. By placing the food a little further in each time, the bird could be encouraged to enter far enough in. String on the door would allow you to close it from a distance.
Hope you manage to catch her/him. David Jones.

Hello from Belgium!

Congratulations for your nice web site.
Here are two pictures of Western Grey Plantain-Easter, Crinifer piscator I have see in a zoo in Belgium.

Question: Can you explain how to take good care of this type of bird. What size of aviary is necessary?

Thank you.

Dr. Couneson

Answer (provided by Nigel Hewston):

Hello Sylvie,

Thanks for the photos and your comments on the website. Plantain-eaters eat fruit with a little universal or pellets as do other touracos, but also need more leafy food like spinach, lettuce, cabbage or wild plants. I have not kept them myself but aviary size would be as for other touracos, about 2 x 5m, or more if available. There have been two articles on Plantain-eaters in our magazines:

• Issue 9 - Eastern & Western Grey Plantain-eaters by Don Turner, which talks about the species in the wild and their evolution.
• Issue 12 - Western's Go Green by Nathan Crockford, which talks about captive breeding of the Western species at the Cotswold Wildlife Park.

Members can see more about Western Greys on the 'News' page of this website.