Purple-crested turaco

Purple-crested turaco
Nominate race in Ithala G. R.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Musophagiformes
Family: Musophagidae
Genus: Gallirex
Species:
G. porphyreolophus
Binomial name
Gallirex porphyreolophus
(Vigors, 1831)
Synonyms

Tauraco porphyreolophus
Musophaga porphyreolopha

The purple-crested turaco (Gallirex porphyreolophus) or, in South Africa, the purple-crested loerie, (Khurukhuru in the Luvenḓa (Venḓa) language) is a species of bird in the turaco clade with an unresolved phylogenetic placement. Initial analyses placed the purple-crested turaco in the family Musophagidae, but studies have indicated that these birds do not belong to this family and have been placed in the clade of turacos with an unresolved phylogeny. It is the National Bird of the Kingdom of Eswatini, and the crimson flight feathers of this and related turaco species are important in the ceremonial regalia of the Swazi royal family.