Turaco Hybrids

[Jaguar_X]

As you all know, hybrids have the tendency to show up in both zoos and even in the wild from time to time. I am not interested in the debate of how ethical hybrids are or if they have a place in the world, you guys can do that elsewhere.

What I am interested in is what Turaco hybrids exist, where they are kept, are they fertile and so on.
I have seen more than 1 place list their turaco hybrids as Knysna Turaco which is quite sad. And so I would like to possibly create a Turaco hybrid gallery to show of what the hybrids actually look like as apposed to a real Knysna Turaco or any other Turaco for that matter.

If you have a photo of a turaco that you are unsure of please post it as well, I will be more than willing to try and ID it for you, especially if it is a hybrid.


To get this started of I have only ever once seen a Turaco hybrid and it was a cross between Fischer's and Guinea Turaco (or at least that is what I was told), They looked fairly similar to normal Fischer's Turaco, but the Red on their crests did not continue down the head as far as it usually would.


Here are the two, fairly bad, pictures I have. It is from a private breeder so I will not share the location, other than South Africa. The breeder was not breeding these birds and supposedly bought them to keep them from circulating and possibly breeding with other turacos. He kept the 3 chicks in a aviary on their own, with some Bruce's Green Pigeon.

 

[Jaguar_X]

I found a few more hybrids online including:

• Red-crested Turaco x Fischer's Turaco (Tauraco erythrolophus x Tauraco fischeri)

Tauraco erythrolophus X Tauraco fischeri / Turaco hybrid in Tel Aviv bird park Zapari
-Tel Aviv bird park Zapari, Israel
​

• White-crested x Red-crested Turaco (Tauraco leucolophus x Tauraco erythrolophus)

Turacos
-Davis Lund Aviaries, USA
​

• Guinea Turaco x Violet Turaco (Tauraco persa x Musophaga violacea)

Guinea & violet turaco hybrid - ZooChat
By Elephas Maximus
-Ekaterinburg Zoo, Russia

Tauraco persa X Musophaga violacea / Turaco hybrid in Yekaterinburg Zoo
-Ekaterinburg Zoo, Russia

​

 

[Jaguar_X]

• Livingstone's Turaco x White-cheeked Turaco (Tauraco livingstonii x Menelikornis leucotis)
  
  
  Turaco ID? - ZooChat
  By Nadchew_
  -Fragile Forest, Singapore Zoo, Singapore

 

[Tim May]

If you're interested in turaco hybrids (or, indeed, any bird hybrids) check the following publication;
"Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World" (Eugene McCarthy; 2007)

 

[vogelcommando]

Around 1987 Vogelpark Walsrode kept a single Schalow's turaco together with a White-crested turaco because we didn't have fitting partners for them at that moment. The birds proofed to be a pair and produced a clutch of 2 eggs which both hatched. Because a number of other birds shared the aviary with them and several of them were potential nest-predators, the young were taken out of the nest and hand-raised in the raising-station. Because the Birdpark had no "use" for these hybrids, they were offered to me and I had the pleasure to keep these very tame birds for another 5 years after which period I gave them to a friend.

 

[Jaguar_X]

They look nothing like I expected them to look
Strange that they didn't have more white on their crest and I am absolutely puzzled at where the blue in their crests came from.

If you didn't say what their were hybrids of I would have said the Schallow's x Hartlaubs or White-cheeked.

Thank you so much!