The Great Blue Turaco is a real showstopper. As the largest bird in the turaco family, it’s hard to miss with its vivid colors and impressive size. One of the most striking features of the Great Blue Turaco is its head crest. Thick and dark, the crest stands out prominently, making this bird look even more majestic. But that's not all. The Great Blue Turaco's bill is another standout feature, a striking combination of red and yellow, adding a splash of color to its already beautiful appearance.

This bird is native to central Africa and can be found in countries like Cameroon, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unlike some of its relatives, the Great Blue Turaco is not currently threatened, which is great news for bird lovers. It thrives in a variety of habitats, including tropical forests, savannas, and even human-altered landscapes like gardens and plantations.

The diet of the Great Blue Turaco is quite diverse. These birds love to feast on fruit, but they don't stop there. They also eat leaves and flowers, making them important players in their ecosystem. By consuming and dispersing seeds, they help maintain the health and diversity of their habitats.

While the Great Blue Turaco is relatively safe in the wild, it does face some threats. In some areas, they are hunted for their meat and feathers. Their feathers are particularly prized for their beauty and are often used in traditional ceremonies and decorations.

Despite their popularity among bird watchers and enthusiasts, Great Blue Turacos are rarely found in captivity. However, there are a few exceptions. The San Diego Zoo, which boasts the largest collection of bird species in the United States, has a Great Blue Turaco in their collection. This gives visitors a rare opportunity to see this magnificent bird up close. Similarly, the zoo in Antwerp has a pair of these beautiful birds, offering another chance for people to admire them.

For those who can't make it to these zoos, here's a short video from the San Diego Zoo showcasing their Great Blue Turacos:

Like all of our cute Birdorable birds, our Great Blue Turaco illustration is available on a wide variety of apparel options and novelty gift items. Pictured here are two t-shirt styles; visit the Great Blue Turaco product page in our shop for more gift ideas.

Sage Grouse have elaborate courtship rituals and the male's strutting display are somewhat of a spectacle for birders to view every spring. Males perform in leks for several hours in the early morning and evening during these spring months. This new design features our male Birdorable Sage Grouse showing off, while a female looks the other way.

We are so pleased to introduce our newest Birdorable bird: the Indian Peafowl! The Peacock has been one of the most suggested birds here at Birdorable. This gorgeous species is the national bird of India, and we've added a Peafowl of India design to the shop, as well as products featuring the Peacock by itself - including cute custom shoes pictured below.

Peafowl appear countless times in Indian mythology and popular culture. During our travels in India, we often came across Peacock imagery, like at the City Palace of Jaipur:

We also saw several of them during our visits to natural parks, and once were even so lucky to find a male in full breeding splendor!

Peacocks appear not only in Indian art and nature, but in advertisements too:

Peacock Brand by Meanest Indian

Peacocks are indeed striking when in full breeding plumage. They sport about 150 long display feathers, which are not tail feathers but elongated upper tail coverts. These are shed each year during their annual molt and often collected afterward due to the prized decorative value of the feathers. Here are some more photos of this gorgeous species.

Nice peacock! by Tambako the Jaguar

Peacock dancing in the wild by Tarique Sani

A peacock #02 by *higetiger

Here are two new Birdorable coloring pages for some more coloring fun! They are the Piping Plover and Broad-winged Hawk! Go to Coloring Pages to download these and other PDFs and check the Meet the Birds page to check the colors.

These downloads will be available until 15 May 2010. Check here for more coloring pages. Subscribe to the Birdorable Blog by RSS feed or by email to get notified when new downloads like this are added.

Our latest Birdorable parrot is the Bourke's Parrot or "Bourkie", a colorful grass parrot from Southwestern and Central Australia, where they are endangered due to overstocking and rabbit plagues. In some parts of Western Australia populations have recently increased after grazing was scaled down, allowing vegetation to return. If you like our Birdorable Bourkie don't forget to check out our 50+ other parrots and parakeets.

This week's featured design is this Union Jack UK Birder with the Flag of the United Kingdom and six of our Birdorable birds that are found around the UK. Long-tailed Tit, European Robin, Great Tit, Chaffinch, European Goldfinch and Tufted Duck are perched around the flag above the word "Birder". This t-shirt will make a great gift for birdwatchers in the UK.

Today, March 14th, is Pi Day, the day that mathematicians celebrate the number that is approximately 3.14159. Send your friends our funny Birdorable Mag PI with this comment graphic, Facebook Gift or eCard.

The Northern Fulmar is a petrel that lives in the northern oceans, across the Atlantic and Pacific. It is abundant in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, but few people ever see them there as they tend to breed in remote places. In contrast, around Iceland, the Faroe Islands and British Isles they have undergone a spectacular increase in their population in the last two centuries and they are commonly seen as a result. They are one of the longest-lived birds, with an average life span of about 32 years. In Scotland, birds that were banded in 1951 were still found breeding in 1990 at ages likely greater than 50 years!

Photo by diddý (source: Flickr)

It is similar in appearance to a gull, but stockier with a thick neck and more rounded wings. They have a short, thick bill, with a little tube on top. Fulmars come in many different colors, referred to as light morph, intermediate morph and dark morph, but also in every gradation in between. There is no generally accepted explanation for this variety.

Here is a picture of a dark morph Northern Fulmar:

Photo by Glen Tepke (source: Flickr)

If you like our cute Northern Fulmar, check out our other 233 Birdorable birds.

We have three new Birdorable coloring pages for anyone who loves to color! They are the Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel and Turkey Vulture! Go to Coloring Pages to download these three new PDFs and check the Meet the Birds page to check the colors.

These downloads will be available until 30 April 2010. Check here for more coloring pages. Subscribe to the Birdorable Blog by RSS feed or by email to get notified when new downloads like this are added.

After Birdorable fan Ashira sent us her lovely warbler coloring pages, she forwarded this Great Horned Owl image to us. Doesn't it look great?

If you’ve colored in any of our Birdorable coloring pages, we’d love to see what you’ve done! Thank you for sending the Great Horned Owl page to us, Ashira!