Birds · Coliiformes · Coliidae

Blue-naped Mousebird

Urocolius macrourus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The blue-naped mousebird is a mousebird with a very long tail, a turquoise patch on the nape and a bare red area around the eye. It lives in the most arid parts of the Sahelo-Somali belt and moves in groups that creep through thorny vegetation with remarkable agility. Like its relatives, it sleeps in a hanging cluster from a branch.

Weight

38 g – 65 g

Size

33 cm – 36 cm

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Family group

Lives in small family groups with close bonds.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

SavannaDesertHerbivore Diurnal Family group Bird Savanna Desert

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Fun facts

Like all mousebirds, it can rotate all four toes forwards or backwards, which lets it hang upside down from branches while it eats, a posture no other bird adopts with such ease.
It sleeps in a cluster: the group hangs packed together in a dangling mass and goes into night-time torpor, lowering its body temperature to save energy in the desert.
It is one of the few small birds with an almost entirely plant diet, tough leaves included, and it has an adapted digestive system that other birds of its size do not have.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Thorn savannah, dry scrub and acacia woodland of the arid African belt
Birth weight: Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent
Size at birth: Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 14 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 3 eggs

Sources consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-naped_mousebird

Where to find it

See its range on the interactive map

Best time: All year round in the arid savannahs of the Sahel and East Africa, by day; it flies in groups, with a very elongated outline because of the tail.