For bird watchers

From Mgias

LIVING AND SUB-FOSSIL BIRDS

Over the past few millenia several flora and fauna species have been gone extinct along with several bird species and some sub-fossil bird species of flightless elephant birds Aepyornis , weighing 500kg and measuring about 3 meters height . About 260 bird species have been recorded in Madagascar of which 204 species are resident and 120 species are found nowhere else in the world. The island’s avifauna is low in number but it has a high level of endemism , about 53% of bird species , 24.6 % bird genera and 5 families and one sub-family are endemic.Moreover, 25 breeding species (12.5%) are endemic to the Malagasy Region, defined as Madagascar, the Comoros, the Aldabra islands, and the Mascarene islands ( Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues). Much of the island’s birdlife is related to African avian families.

HABITATS

The vast majority of the resident species are dependent on the native forest and wetlands, and few number inhabits the grasslands. They are distributed to the natural habitats of the eastern evergreen rainforest, western dry deciduous forest, southern sub-arid thorny scrub, western grasslands and woodlands, wetlands (lakes, estuaries, mangroves and marshes) and coastal areas.

MADAGASCAR'S ENDEMIC FAMILIES

The country’s bird life is holding 3 families and one sub-family endemic to Madagascar and 2 families endemic to the Malagasy Region. All representatives of these families are forest dwelling.

1_ The family MESITORNITHIDAE or Mesite has 3 representatives:

      * Brown  mesite (rainforest).
      * White breasted mesite ( dry deciduous  forest).
      * Sub-desert mesite ( spiny forest).

2 _ The family BRACHYPTERACIIDAE or Ground roller has 5 species of which 4 occur in the evergreen rainforest and 1 in the sub-desert spiny forest.

      * Pitta-like ground roller ( rainforest).
      * Short-legged ground roller (rainforest);
      * Scaly ground roller (rainforest).
      * Long-tailed ground roller (spiny desert forest).

3_The family PHILEPITTIDAE or Asities and Sunbird-asities featured by 4 species and divided in two genera PHILEPITTA ( Asities) and NEODREPANIS ( Sunbird-asities). There are all forest species and sexually dimorphic, while the males have a colored caruncle over the eyes during the breeding period.Three of which inhabit the evergreen rainforest and one in the dry deciduous forest.

      * Velvet asity (rainforest).
      * Schlegel’s asity (dry deciduous forest).
      * Sunbird-asity (rainforest).
      * Yellow-bellied sunbird-asity ( rainforest).

4_The sub-family COUINAE or Coua (CUCULIDAE family) has 9 living species and one other species is considered extinct the Snail-eating coua. They are distributed in different types of vegetations whereas 3 species are strictly tree-dwelling and 7 other species are ground-dwelling. The Couas are characterised by their long tail and blue skin around their eyes.

5_The family VANGIDAE or Vanga is endemic to the Malagasy region with 14 species while 13 species (12 genera) of which are endemic to Madagascar and only one species is found in the Comoros. The Vangas occur in all Madagascar’s forest types, and they are generally bicolour(black and white), and have astonishing bill shapes and size adapted to their diet. The forms of the beaks is different from one species to one another, for instance the Sickle-billed vanga has a fascinating long and curved bill adapted to peel and hollow the dead tree bark to search for insect-larvae, insects and lizards.

6_The family LEPTOSOMATIDAE or Cuckoo-roller (Leptosomus discolor), is a mono-specific family endemic to the Malagasy Region. It’s characterised by sexual dimorphism while the males are metallic green with purple sheen and the females are brown.

BIRD SITES

The Madagascar's 260 species are distributed over different vegetation types related to climate and altitude(eastern rainforest, western dry deciduous forest, sub-desert spiny forest, grasslands and woodlands)and other habitats(lakes, marshes,estuaries, mangroves,coasts).Specific bird species are related to a distinct habitat of which some are ground-dwelling, the others inhabit the forest canopy.The Long-tailed ground rollers are confined in the dry spiny forest of Toliara region, in Ifaty while the Helmet vanga are found only in the north-eastern region in Masoala peninsula. So,to observe several varieties and endemic species visiting some wetlands,coastal areas and parks with different types of vegetations are a must.Here are some good examples of rainforested parks in the east and north-east(Perinet special reserve, ranomafana national park,Lohatrozona or Ambanizana forest in Masoala national park),the western dry deciduous forested parks in (Ankaranfantsika national park,Zombitse park) and the southern spiny forest(Ifaty forest,Nosy Ve island,Berenty reserve).

Height of the fourteen breeding raptor species are endemic to the island including the world's rarest bird Madagascar fish eagle which is distributed in the western region near lakes, mangroves and estuaries. Several Madagascar bird life are at risk of extinction because of the severe loss of forest habitat related to the high rate of population growth which has an impact to the environment. The country is a top conservation priority for birds where half of its avifauna is unique.