Crested Coua
Encyclopedia
The Crested Coua, Coua cristata, is a medium-sized, approximately 44cm long, greenish-grey coua with grey crest, blue bare orbital skin, rufous breast, brown iris
, black bill
and legs, white belly and long white-tipped purplish-blue tail feathers. They are very attractive birds.
The Crested Coua is distributed and endemic
to forests, savanna
and brushland of Madagascar
. It is found from sea-level to altitude of 900 metres. The diet consists mainly of various insects, fruits, berries, seeds, snails and chameleon
s. The female usually lays two white eggs in nest made from twigs.
Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the Crested Coua is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...
, black bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
and legs, white belly and long white-tipped purplish-blue tail feathers. They are very attractive birds.
The Crested Coua is distributed and endemic
Endemism in birds
An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....
to forests, savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
and brushland of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. It is found from sea-level to altitude of 900 metres. The diet consists mainly of various insects, fruits, berries, seeds, snails and chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
s. The female usually lays two white eggs in nest made from twigs.
Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the Crested Coua is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species.