21. Hartlaub’s Turaco This very pretty bird is one of the nicest to be seen here in the Africama garden. With those beautiful bright red wings opening, they fly swiftly between trees: a swooping flight-path, with a quick burst of quick flapping to get up speed and then a long smoothly dipping glide to the next tree in a dazzling display of those lovely red wings. It’s an interesting energy-saving flying strategy that they have developed. Once they have landed in a tree, which they do very neatly, they usually start immediately to clamber quickly up the tree, hopping and bobbing a bit like a large parrot from branch to branch as they get higher. They are probably looking for fruit, of course, for they are fructivores (fruit-eaters), but they are also heading for the highest convenient point from which they can easily launch themselves into a glide to the next tree. Flying is an energy intensive process for birds, especially birds of any weight, and turacos are not small. Gaining the height they need by climbing the tree saves the energy of flapping those gorgeous wings. And check out the stunning make-up around the eyes! Birds of AFRICAMA House 46 Birds of AFRICAMA House 47