Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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If Lisa Frank were to design a bird…
…it might look like a red-crested turaco.
Scarlet and Skittles bring bold color
and big rainbow energy to Osher Rainforest…
…with fabulous red and green feathers
that are unique in the animal kingdom:
Their colors are produced by actual pigment,
not refracted light like in other birds.
This technicolor twosome
does everything together…
…from walking and squawking in the canopy…
…to taking turns at the feeding station…
…to making babies!
A female chick hatched in December…
…which will help maintain genetic diversity
among turaco populations in human care.
(And provide hair inspo for us humans.)

Learn more at calacademy.org/phenomena/creature-closeup-red-crested-turaco

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The California Academy of Sciences is a renowned scientific and educational institution dedicated to regenerating the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. Based in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, it's the only place in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum—plus cutting-edge research programs—all under one living roof.

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