Plantain-eater

The plantain-eaters, Crinifer, are a genus of birds in the turaco family. They are restricted to Africa.

Plantain-eater
Western plantain-eater (Crinifer piscator) at Lotherton Hall, England
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Musophagiformes
Family: Musophagidae
Genus: Crinifer
Jarocki, 1821
Species

C. piscator
C. zonurus

The genus was erected by the Polish zoologist Feliks Paweł Jarocki in 1821 with the western plantain-eater (Crinifer piscator) as the type species.[1] The name combines the Latin crinis meaning "hair" and -fer meaning "bearing".[2]

The genus contains two species:[3]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Crinifer zonurusEastern plantain-eatereast Africa.
Crinifer piscatorWestern plantain-eaterwest Africa

These are large noisy and conspicuous birds, but lack the brilliant colours of their relatives. They are mainly grey, with a long tail and an erectile head crest. They feed on fruit, especially figs, seeds and other vegetable matter.

References

  1. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 9.
  2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  • Barlow, Wacher and Disley, Birds of The Gambia ISBN 1-873403-32-1
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