Angolan Turoch [3] ( lat. Pternistis swierstrai , a possible other Russian name is Turoch Sverstra [4] ) is an African bird species from the family of pheasant (Phasianidae) [1] . Endemic to the mountain forests of Western Angola , an endangered species .
| Angolan Turoch |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
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| International scientific name |
|---|
Pternistis swierstrai ( Roberts , 1929 ) [1] |
| Synonyms |
|---|
- Francolinus swierstrai
(Roberts, 1929) [2]
|
| Security status |
|---|
Endangered speciesIUCN 3.1 Endangered : ??? |
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Body length up to 33 cm. Black-and-white bird with red legs and beak. In males, the upper body looks black, but at close range it is dark brown; a wide black stripe across the chest, white bucho with black spots. In females, the color of the chest and abdomen is the same as in males, but the back and elytra have a lighter, rusty-brown color. The voice resembles a cough, which is also characteristic of Kenyan and East African turach .
Angolan turuch leads a land-based lifestyle, mainly found in dense thickets of shrubs, tall grasses and ferns. Food includes grass, seeds and insects, selected from fallen leaves. Mating habits are almost unknown, but the chicks observed in August suggest that the mating season falls on May or June [5] .
Angolan Turoch is an endemic of Western Angola . The main range is from Tundavala ( Uila province) in the south to Cariango ( Southern Kwanzaa ) in the north, as well as inselbergs (isolated hills) in the province of Huambo and the Bailundu hills on the Angolan Highlands. It is mainly found in the few remaining mountain forest bands in this region, but was also observed on stony and grassy mountain slopes, in ravines and in tall grass near mountain peaks.
The main habitat of the Angolan turach - tropical mountain forests - in Western Angola is almost nullified; Thus, only 15 islands of such a forest with a total area of up to 15 hectares survived on Moko Mountain in the Angolan Highlands. Forests in this region are being reduced to expand agricultural land. In addition, the danger to the Angolan turach is hunting. Since 1971, there have not been a single observation of Angolan Turcians until 2005, when there were reports of about a dozen birds of this species in the mountains of Moko and Soke. The lack of data makes it difficult to estimate the total abundance of the species, but on the basis of the area of mountain forests preserved in the region and the ability of the Angolan Turoch to survive outside the Red Book, it is estimated as not exceeding 2080 pairs (most likely, significantly less). In the Red Book, the Angolan turuch is assigned the status of an endangered species . No targeted conservation efforts are currently underway. Although a proposal was made in the 1970s to make about 60 km² in the area of Mount Moko a conservation zone , these plans have not yet been implemented [2] .
