Birds of Madagascar and Their Conservation

Abstract

Striding up a steep hillside with the loud whisper of a rushing stream in the background, I stepped into a mist-net lane I had cut a week before. As I entered the clearing, a mediumsized brown bird squawked and flew off from eye-level. Carefully searching the nearby vegetation, I became one of a lucky handful of foreigners to ever find a nest of the Brown Mesite (Mesitornis unicolor), a rare forest-dwelling relative of rails. The large egg, delicately colored in salmon with liver-colored spots, rested precariously in a frail, dove-like nest positioned at the end of a sloping sapling. This encounter with the Brown Mesite is just one of many ornithological marvels I witnessed during a typical day in Madagascar, a biologist's Mecca.

Madagascar is unique. This large island has been adrift in the Indian Ocean for millions of years, cut-off from Africa. A high percentage of the flora and fauna of Madagascar is endemic, having evolved in nearisolation from the rest of the world. Madagascar's ecosystems vary tremendously from rain forests in the northeast receiving several meters (yards) of rain per year, to the spiny bush in the southwest where only a few centimeters (about 1 inch) of rain may fall annually. Living in this wide array of habitats are a number of unique and peculiar birds. Many of these are rare, seldom seen by ornithologists and never kept by aviculturists.

Despite their abilities of flight, twothirds of Madagascar's 200 breeding species are found nowhere else (Dee, 1986). Five entire families of birds - Mesites, Ground-rollers, Cuckooroller, Asities, and Vangas - are confined to Madagascar and a few neighboring islands. These families are poorly known by even most ornithologists. According to the International Council for Bird Preservation (Collar and Stuart, 1985), 28 species of Malagasy birds are threatened and 14 species are considered as nearthreatened. These species represent between one-fifth and one-third of the island's endemic bird species.

The primary threats to Madagascar's birds today, habitat loss and overhunting, have already eliminated many unique Malagasy creatures. Since people first arrived on Madagascar 1500 to 2000 years ago, much of the island has been deforested, leaving the red lateritic soil exposed and eroding, with little chance for forest regeneration. Gone are many Lemurs (some the size of Great Apes), a hippopotamus, a giant tortoise, and the entire family of Elephantbirds. The flightless Elephantbirds, known only from Madagascar, ranged in size from that of rheas to truly enormous brutes standing several meters (yards) tall and estimated to weight 450 kg (1000 pounds) (Amadon, 1947). Remains of the eggshells of these birds are still common in the south. Walking along a remote, white sand beach, I came across shell fragments of their 8 liter (2 gallon) eggs. Standing in the blazing sun, turning bits of eggshell over in my fingers, I wondered what these birds were like. What did they eat? How long did they incubate their eggs, the largest eggs ever known? How did their chicks break free from these vast vessels? I wondered if the egg of the Brown Mesite, like that I found in the rainforest, would someday be known only from a few specimens in some museum?

Malagasy Birds in Aviculture

While captive breeding sometimes offers hope to endangered bird species, few of the endemic Malagasy birds have been kept in captivity. To the best of my knowledge, only the following birds are currently being kept in zoos or private collections outside the country: Meller's Duck (Anas melleri), Madagascar Partridge (Magaroperdix madagascariensis), Greater Vasa Parrot (Coracops is vasa), Lesser Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis nigra), Gray-headed Lovebird (Agapornis cana) and the Madagascar Red Fody (Foudia madagascariensis). Readers of Roles and Cracroft's (1990) article on their efforts to breed the Greater Vasa Parrot will be interested to know that the eastern race (C. v. vasa) was bred in Switzerland in 1988 by Dr. Roumuald Burkard. The western race (C. v. drouhardi) was bred by Mr. Dieter Meyer of Germany in 1986 and again in 1988 (Robiller and Meier, 1989). In the past, the following endemic species were kept, and sometimes bred outside of Madagascar: Madagascar Teal (Anas bernieri), Madagascar Pochard (Aythya innotata), Madagascar Buttonquail (Turnix nigricollis), Madagascar Turtle Dove (Streptopelia picurata), and the Madagascar Mannikin (Lonchura nana).

Aviculture in Madagascar is almost non-existant. Unlike its impressive lemur collection, few birds are kept in the zoological garden at Pare Tsimbazaza in the capital, Antananarivo. Recently the waterfowl collection has been expanded, and the aviaries of other birds have been newly landscaped. A private hotel in the western port city of Mahajanga maintains a collection of birds which includes six species of herons, including two Madagascar Herons (Ardea humbloti), White-faced Whistling Ducks (Dendrocygna viduata), Fulvous Whistling Ducks (D. bicolor ), a Black Kite (Milvus migrans), a female Madagascar Partridge, a Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), Gray-headed Lovebirds, and Madagascar Red Fodies. Birds were occasionally for sale in the market in Antananarivo including a Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), nestling Madagascar kestrels (Falco newtoni), Greater and Lesser Vasa Parrots, Gray-headed Lovebirds (the most commonly offered psittacine), Madagascar Red Fodies and Madagascar Mannikins. One vendor told me that Madagascar Green Pigeons (Treron australis) could be procured.

 

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