Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

Here you have a portrait of a Schalow's Turaco, Turaco schalowi. This is one of the most beautiful of the turacos, with the longest, most elegant crest in the whole family. It has long been considered a subspecies of the Knysna Turaco so please refer to that article for more information about it and its family.

Compared to the Knysna Turaco, Schalow's Turaco is most easily distinguished by the very long crest, but there are subtle differences in its plumage colours. Its call is also different; from what I've heard online, it is harsher and less repetitive. This species has been named, not for being vain and shallow (though it is so beautiful) but for German banker and amateur ornithologist Hermann Schalow. Its range is to the north of that of the Knysna Turaco and the intermediate species, Livingstone's Turaco. Some of my birding friends have seen it, since it occurs in the Okavango Swamps of Botswana, the Caprivi of Namibia, and the far north-west of Zimbabwe, a region to which many avid bird-watchers from South Africa go for its wonderful special birds and for not being that far away. Its main range is in Angola, Zambia and the southern DRC, but it stretches into Malawi, Tanzania, and an isolated population in the highlands of Kenya. It inhabits forests and well-developed woodlands, including lush riverine forests, the habitat in which it is seen in Southern Africa. Because of its large range, which includes plenty of suitable habitat, it is at present not considered endangered.

Willem

03.02.20 Front Page

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