African Parrots, Turacos, Cuckoos & Coucals
Africa parrots, turacos, cuckoos and coucals were not the easiest birds for us to find. When we did, we were captivated by their uniqueness. Perhaps that is because there are no birds like them in our home area. Large sized birds with thick hooked bills, or colors of the rainbow have no counter part in the Pacific Northwest of North America. We were not quite tropical enough to find the parrots in good numbers. In fact, we saw only one – the brown-headed parrot. Luckily, it was very photographable.
The turaco of choice was the purple-crested turaco. Some local folks call them louries. The setting we had was anything but desirable. It was at a water seep in the mud, at a time of severe drought in Mkuze Reserve in northern Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We were glad to get the shot, but we sure wished it had been in a more attractive setting.