Madagasikara | Madagascar

SUB-REGION
Malagasy

SIZE
Madagascar is the largest island in the Indian Ocean and ABC region, and the fourth largest in the world, covering a total area of 587,041 km²

BIRDS AND BIRDING

SPECIES
Diversity
A highly distinctive avifauna, with four surviving endemic families (Mesites, Ground Rollers, Asities and Madagascan Warblers or Tetrakas), a family with only one species (Cuckoo-roller) shared with the Comoros and another near-endemic group of birds (Vangas)
Approximately 310 recorded species, about one third of which are endemics

Birds best found in Madagascar but occurring more widely (BT), including ESS
Malagasy Pond Heron
Dimorphic Egret
Mascarene Martin (ESS madagascariensis)

Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Madagascar Swift (E)
Chestnut-vented Coua (E)
Olive-capped Coua | Green-capped Coua (E)
Madagascar Turtle Dove (E)
Madagascar White-throated Rail (E)
Madagascar Three-banded Plover (E)
Madagascar Gull (E)
Madagascar Cuckoo-roller (NE)
Madagascar Plain Martin (E)
Subdesert Jery (E)
Madagascar White-eye (NE)
Benson’s Rock Thrush (E)
Western Magpie-Robin | Pelzeln’s Magpie-Robin (E)
Madagascar Green Sunbird (E)

Other taxa of interest, including more ESS
White-backed Duck (ESS insularis)
African Pygmy Goose
Blue-billed Teal
Red-billed Teal
Common Quail (africana)
Alpine Swift (ESS willsi)
Little Swift
Thick-billed Cuckoo (ESS audeberti)
Namaqua Dove (ESS aliena)
Common Moorhen | Eurasian Moorhen (pyrrhorrhoa)
Red-knobbed Coot
Allen’s Gallinule
African Swamphen
Baillon’s Crake (intermedia)
Greater Flamingo
Lesser Flamingo
Kittlitz’s Plover
Three-banded Plover (ESS bifrontatus)
White-fronted Plover (ESS tenellus)
Greater Painted-snipe
Crab-plover
Brown Noddy
Kelp Gull (ESS melisandae)
Caspian Tern
Greater Crested Tern (thalassinus)
Lesser Crested Tern (bengalensis)
Saunders’s Tern
Bridled Tern (antarcticus)
Sooty Tern (nubilosus)
Roseate Tern (arideensis)
Whiskered Tern (delalandii)
Red-tailed Tropicbird
White-tailed Tropicbird
African Openbill | African Open-billed Stork (ESS madagascariensis)
Great Frigatebird
Lesser Frigatebird
Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
African Darter (ESS vulsini)
Reed Cormorant | Long-tailed Cormorant (ESS pictilis)
Little Bittern (ESS podiceps)
Striated Heron (rutenbergi)
Grey Heron (firasa)
Purple Heron (ESS madagascariensis)
Black Heron
Hamerkop
Bat Hawk
Yellow-billed Kite (parasitus)
Western Barn Owl (hypermetra)
Marsh Owl (ESS hova)
Broad-billed Roller (ESS glaucurus)
Olive Bee-eater | Madagascar Bee-eater
Eleonora’s Falcon
Sooty Falcon
Peregrine Falcon (radama)
Pied Crow
Brown-throated Martin | Plain Martin (ESS cowani)
Common Waxbill

Introduced species
Helmeted Guineafowl
Rock Dove
Common Myna
House Sparrow

MAIN HABITATS
Moist eastern forest, dry western woodland, arid spiny forest, grassland, wetlands

BIRD AREAS
East Malagasy wet forests Endemic Bird Area (EBA)
East Malagasy wetlands EBA
South Malagasy spiny forests EBA
West Malagasy dry forests EBA
West Malagasy wetlands EBA
Ile Sainte-Marie Secondary Area (SA) is no longer valid since Snail-eating Coua is extinct
Isalo massif SA is also no longer valid since Benson’s Rock Thrush has been lumped
84 Important Bird Areas

BIRDING SITES
Ankarafantsika (Ampijoroa) and Kirindy Forest for western woodland species
Andasibe-Mantadia, Ranomafana and Masoala for eastern rainforest species
Zombitse for transition forest species
Ifaty and Toliara for spiny forest and arid scrub birds
Betsiboka Delta for Bernier’s Teal
Bemanevika for Madagascar Pochard

TIMING (Sep–Nov)
Best at the start of the rains, when birds breed and it is not too wet
For more remote areas, go before the rains (Aug–Sep)
Avoid cyclone season (Jan–Apr)

RESOURCES
Field guides
Ny Vorontsika eto Madagasikara (Our Birds in Madagascar) by Hajanirina F Rakotomanana & Bruno A Raveloson (2019) is the first field guide to the birds of Madagascar written entirely in Malagasy
Birds of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands by Frank Hawkins, Roger Safford & Adrian Skerrett (2015) is recommended over –
Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands: Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Seychelles, Comoros by Ian Sinclair & Olivier Langrand (2013), which is also available in French as Oiseaux des Îles de l’Océan Indien: Madagascar, Maurice, Réunion, Rodrigues, Seychelles, Comores (2014)
Ny Vorona Malagasy by Satoshi Yamagishi, Tomohisa Masuda & Hajanirina Rakotomanana (1997) is a field guide to the birds of Madagascar in Malagasy and Japanese
Guide des Oiseaux de Madagascar by Olivier Langrand (1995) is also available in English as A Field Guide to the Birds of Madagascar
A Photographic Guide to the Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands/Guide Photographique des Oiseaux des Îles de l’Océan Indien by Ian Sinclair, Olivier Langrand & Fanja Andriamialisoa (2006) is more comprehensive than –
Birds of Madagascar: a Photographic Guide by Pete Morris & Frank Hawkins (2000)
Wildlife of Madagascar by Ken Behrens & Keith Barnes (2016) is a photographic guide covering the birds as well as mammals, reptiles, amphibians and butterflies most likely to be seen on the island

Sounds
Bird Sounds of Madagascar: an Audio Guide to the Island’s Unique Birds by Frank Hawkins & Richard Ranft
Bird Sounds of Madagascar, Mayotte, Comoros, Seychelles, Reunion, Mauritius/Oiseaux de Madagascar, Mayotte, Comores, Seychelles, Reunion, Maurice by Pierre Huget & Claude Chappuis
Madagascar Soundscapes by Victor Randrianary, Sylvie Rifflet & Jean C Roche

DVDs
The Endemic Birds of Madagascar is a 4-DVD set featuring 130 Malagasy endemic species produced and published by Guy Eldridge

Site guides
Southern African Birdfinder: Where to Find 1,400 Bird Species in Southern Africa and Madagascar by Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode & Jonathan Rossouw (2006)
How to See Madagascar Pochard, the World’s Rarest Duck by Michael S L Mills & Michael Rogerson (2013)
Lake Bedo: a Little-Known Wetland Hotspot in Madagascar by H Glyn Young & Felix Razafindrajao (2006)
A Birder’s Guide to Travel in Madagascar by Nick Gardner (1992)

Atlases
Atlas d’une Selection de Vertebres Terrestres de Madagascar/Atlas of Selected Land Vertebrates of Madagascar edited by Steven M Goodman & Marie Jeanne Raherilalao (2014)

Further reading
The State of Madagascar’s Birds: Indicators of Environmental Change compiled and edited by Rado Andriamasimanana, Roger Safford, Lucy Haskell & Tris Allinson for Asity Madagascar and BirdLife International (2021)
The Birds of Africa Volume VIII: the Malagasy Region by Roger Safford & Frank Hawkins (2013)
Histoire Naturelle des Familles et Sous-familles Endémiques d’Oiseaux de Madagascar by Marie Jeanne Raherilalao & Steven M Goodman (2011)
Birds of the Indian Ocean/Les Oiseaux de l’Océan Indien by Narainsamy Ramen (2022)
The New Natural History of Madagascar edited by Steven M Goodman (2022)
Les Aires Protégées Terrestres de Magagascar: Leur Histoire, Description et Biote/The Terrestrial Protected Areas of Madagascar: Their History, Description, and Biota edited by Steven M Goodman, Marie Jeanne Raherilalao & Sébastien Wohlhauser (2019)
Madagascar: un Paradis aux Abois/a Paradise in Distress by Lorraine Bennery & Olivier Hirschy (2019)
Madagascar by Project ZICOMA in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Les Zones d’Importance pour la Conservation des Oiseaux à Madagascar by Project ZICOMA (1999)
Social Organisation of the Rufous Vanga edited by Satoshi Yamagishi (2005)
The Birds of Southeastern Madagascar by Steven M Goodman, Mark Pidgeon, A F A Hawkins & Thomas S Schulenberg (1997)
Composition and Characteristics of Bird Communities in Madagascar by Lucienne Wilmé (1996)
The Endemic Birds of Madagascar by T J Dee (1986)
Endemics, Anyone? Madagascar’s Birds by Martin Benadie (2018)
Articles in Scopus, Bull. ABC, Malagasy Nature, Working Group on Birds in the Madagascar Region Newsletter, etc.

Websites
Birds & Birding Madagascar
WildMadagascar.org
UNESCO World Heritage List: Rainforests of the Atsinanana and Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve

Facebook groups
Madagascar Pochard Conservation
Madagascar Birding Tours

ORGANISATIONS

Asity Madagascar is the BirdLife Partner in Madagascar and the Velvet Asity is its flagship species

Other bird or conservation organisations active in Madagascar include –
Madagascar Birding Association
Association Vahatra
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT)
Mikajy Natiora
Madagascar Institut pour la Conservation des Écosystèmes Tropicaux (MICET)
Madagasikara Voakajy
Biodiversity Conservation Madagascar (BCM)
Impact Madagascar
Fanamby
Planet Madagascar
Ny Tanintsika
SEED Madagascar (Sustainable Environment, Education & Development in Madagascar)
Eden Reforestation Projects
Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) Madagascar Research and Conservation Program
Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation (BINCO)
Seacology
Blue Ventures
L’Homme et l’Environnement
NABU
WWF Madagascar
WCS Madagascar
Conservation International Madagascar