The white-bellied go-away-bird (''Crinifer leucogaster'') is a bird of eastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

in the family Musophagidae, commonly known as

turaco The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth ( ...

Taxonomy

German naturalist

Eduard Rüppell Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (20 November 1794 – 10 December 1884) was a German Natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. Rüppell is occasionally transliterated to "Rueppell" for the English alphabet, due to german ort ...

described this species in 1842. The white-bellied go-away-bird is placed in the

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

family

Musophagidae The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth ( ...

("banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and other go-away-birds. Although traditionally, this group was placed within

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

s in the order

Cuculiformes Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separa ...

, recent genetic analysis have strongly supported separate placement in the full order of Musophagiformes. They are semi-zygodactylous meaning the fourth (outer) toe can be switched back and forth. Musophagidae often have prominent crests and long tails. Some species are renowned for their bright pigments. There is an ongoing discussion over generic-level classification: ''C. leucogaster'' is often referred to as being in the genus ''Corythaixoides'' or ''Criniferoides''. Most earlier taxonomic treatments place it within Corythaixoide, however many concluded that it required the genus, Crinifer.

Description

This species averages 51 cm (20") in length. Its long, pointed grey and black tail with a white median band is characteristic of the species. It has a white under-wing patch, visible in flight. The adult has a grey head and leading to a dark grey to blackish pointed

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

with an approximate length of 6 cm. The belly and under-tail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

are white, giving the bird the first part of its name "white-bellied". The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

is black in male, pea-green in the female (becoming yellowish during the breeding season). Females also tend to be larger, weighing 225g - 250g, where as males only weighed 170g - 225g. The juvenile is similar to adults, with the plumage being more brown, especially on

wing-coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

. Typical calls are a nasal ''haa-haa-haa'', like bleating of a sheep, and a single or repeated ''gwa'' (or ''g'away''), this distinctive call is where the bird gets the latter part of its name "go-away". It flies from tree to tree in loose straggling groups, calling loudly.

Distribution and habitat

Their habitat consists of hot acacia steppe,

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

areas. It avoids deep forest, but the species has been seen at a range of elevations, from sea-level up to 2000m. Individuals of the species are limited to its locality due to water availability, but the species occurs across a vast area in E and NE Africa. It is found in Somalia, W Ethiopia, S Sudan, NE Uganda, N and E Kenya and southwards into the eastern plateau of Tanzania.

Behavior

The white-bellied go-away-bird is sedentary in its range, wandering locally when searching for water and food sources. They are

gregarious Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

birds that do not migrate but move in family groups of up to 10. They are territorial and a breeding pair likely maintains its territory year round. Feeding The white-bellied go-away-birds feed primarily on plant matter such as fruits, flowers, nectar, seeds and buds of

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

s. The species is also known to eat some

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, such as winged termites found when foraging. The species are very agile climbers, allowing for easy foraging in the tree tops. As a result of these feeding habits the White-bellied Go-away-bird is considered a pest in some regions, raiding orchards and plantations of fruiting trees and vegetable crops. Breeding During the breeding season (which usually starts with the rainy season), white-bellied go-away-birds become much more vocal. This varies according to range. The birds exhibit

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...

behaviour, including chases from tree to tree and displays, where the birds bow and flick the long tail whilst raising and lowering the crest. The black and white pattern is enhanced by these postures and this is believed to be the purpose of the patterning. The white-bellied go-away-bird is

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...

and mutual feeding has been recorded between partners. The nest is placed in acacia-type tree, 3-12m above the ground. The female lays 2–3 pale bluish eggs. Both sexes incubate for approximately 4 weeks. The first flight of chicks occurs approximately 4–5 weeks after hatching. However, they still depend on parents for food for several weeks after fledging.

Conservation status

The population of white-bellied go-away-birds has not been quantified. Its conservation status is stated to be "of least concern". This is because the population is not believed to be below 10,000 mature individuals and the bird has a wide distribution of over 3 million km², meaning it does not meet vulnerability criteria. Furthermore, the population appears stable and not to be in decline.

Gallery

File:Corythaixoides leucogaster -Buffalo Springs National Park, Kenya-8.jpg,

Male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

in Kenya File:Corythaixoides leucogaster -Kambi ya Tembo, Tanzania-8.jpg, Female File:Corythaixoides leucogaster -Ethiopia -male-8.jpg, Male White-bellied go-away-bird Corythaixoides leucogaster 20160710.webm, (video) In captivity