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Seychelles Is World Renowned for Its Enticing Tropical Beaches And, Among Birders, for Its Endemics and Sea- Bird Colonies

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Seychelles Is World Renowned for Its Enticing Tropical Beaches And, Among Birders, for Its Endemics and Sea- Bird Colonies idyllicSEY CendemicsHELLES Seychelles is world renowned for its enticing tropical beaches and, among birders, for its endemics and sea- bird colonies. Seychelles comprises 115 islands according to some – or 155 according to the Constitution, depending on the definition of an island – scattered across 1 374 000 square kilometres of the western Indian Ocean. Once sandwiched between Africa and India as part of Gondwanaland, Seychelles split off from Africa some 127 million years ago and from India about 65 million years ago. The 40 central islands are granitic: not only are they the only granitic oceanic islands in the world, PETE OXFORD Above Robber crabs, weighing more than four they are also the oldest islands kilograms, are the world’s largest hermit crabs. They are entirely terrestrial. in the world. Phil Hockey and Opposite The Aldabra Rail is the last flightless Adrian Skerrett went exploring. bird in the western tropical Indian Ocean. ROSS WANLESS APRIL/MAY 2007 SEYCHELLES 37 he granitic islands were, as SEE paGE 40 recently as 10 000 years ago, A a single land mass covering Y Bird Island about 300 000 square kilome- SEYCHELLES tres. Today, their area totals 235 square KEN Aride T Praslin kilometres and the main island of Mahé Mombasa accounts for well over half this area. The La Digue Mahé remaining 220 square kilometres of land area in Seychelles comprises 75 ‘outer’, comoro ISLANDS coralline islands. Among these, Aldabra SEE paGE 43 (154 square kilometres) is the largest Cosmolédo Atoll Aldabra Providence raised coral atoll in the world and is also Assumption Farquhar a World Heritage Site. Astove The granitic islands are generally hot Grande Comore Anjouan and humid, with two monsoon peri- UE ods a year – south-easterly monsoons Mohéli Mayotte Q IND I A N which occur from May to October OCEAN and north-westerly monsoons for the remainder of the year. The transition AMBI Z period between the monsoon seasons is the hottest and most humid. MO Two hundred and forty-two bird spe- MASCARENE ISLANDS cies have been recorded in Seychelles, ANTANANARIVO Mauritius Rodrigues of which 65 breed and 12 (all of them Réunion landbirds) are universally recognised as Beira SEE paGE 47 endemic. Proposed splits (Aldabra Rail, MADAGASCAR Seychelles Black Parrot and Aldabra Fody) may elevate this number to 15. ozambique Channel M Introduced predators and habitat trans- formation have taken their toll and the majority of the endemics are included in the Red Data Book, where three of them are classified as Critically Endangered. Of all the endemics, however, only the Seychelles White-eye and the Seychelles PETE OXFORD Scops-Owl are difficult to find. Birders targeting the endemics of the granitics declared extinct in 1958, but now sus- Grand’ Anse) and Cascade (east coast, Red-footed Boobies are common in all the need only visit three islands: Mahé, La pected of having a population of 80 to just north of the airport). As with the waters around the Seychelles and breed Digue and either Aride or Cousin. Aride 160 pairs. This bird is best located at owl, the birds should not be disturbed on many of the outer islands. also has 10 breeding seabird species night by its call – a deep, sawing crrr- and all sightings should be reported. (Cousin has seven). crrr-crrr, heard most between October The white-eye also breeds on Frégate, and December. The best area to search subsequent to a successful translocation Mahé Island is around Mission. In view of this spe- by the Ministry of Environment and the Mahé is the largest island in the group cies’ rarity (very few nests have ever Island Conservation Society in 2001. and contains the capital, Victoria. been found), birders should make every The mudflats at Providence, south of effort to avoid disturbing the owls. Praslin Victoria, are good for Crab Plover, Terek While in the National Park, keep an eye The more common endemics are all Sandpiper and a diversity of other out for Seychelles Kestrels and White- available on Praslin, but the target bird RECORDS waders. Seychelles Kestrels and Sey- tailed Tropicbirds flying overhead. here is the Seychelles Black Parrot, now The Seychelles Bird Records Committee is inter- chelles Swiftlets can regularly be seen Until recently, the Seychelles White- usually treated as a distinct species from ested in all sightings, even those of the more flying above the town, and a trip to the eye was thought doomed to extinc- the vasa parrots of Madagascar and the common birds. Contact Adrian Skerrett, P O nearby botanical gardens should ensure tion, but following the discovery of Comores. The core of the species’ range Box 336, Seychelles. E-mail adrian@maheship. Seychelles Blue-Pigeon, Seychelles Bul- a healthy population on Conception is the Vallée de Mai National Park (a sc. The Committee’s most recent report was bul and Seychelles Sunbird (as well as Island, its future looks slightly rosier. World Heritage Site): here the birds published in the Africa Bird Club Bulletin 2006, a large colony of fruit bats). The road However, access to Conception is dif- feed extensively on the fruits of an Vol. 13 (2): 170–177. Accepted records are TREVOR HARDAKER from Victoria to Port Glaud traverses ficult, and the best option remains to endemic palm Verschaffeltia splendida, also published quarterly in the local journal In 1959, the world population of Seychelles Warbler was 26 birds, confined to one the Morne Seychellois National Park try and locate the birds on Mahé. There which grows along the river valleys. Birdwatch and on the Committee’s website mangrove swamp on Cousin. The population now numbers about 3 000, on Cousin, and offers the best chance of finding are small surviving populations at La However, early in the morning many www.stokecoll.ac.uk/sbrc/ Cousine and Aride islands. the Seychelles Scops-Owl – a species Misere (on the road from Plaisance to parrots leave the Vallée de Mai and 38 SEYCHELLES AFRICA – BIRDS & BIRDING APRIL/MAY 2007 SEYCHELLES 39 head towards the coast, where they in 1968 and held in trust for BirdLife may be seen between Grand’ Anse and International (then the ICBP). In 2002, L’Amité, at Anse Boudin and at Pointe agreement was reached to transfer own- Cabris in the south. Although they feed ership directly to BirdLife International. on a variety of fruits, a favourite is the The island is now managed by Nature Bird Island introduced ‘bilimbi’ Averrhoa bilimbi. Seychelles (formerly BirdLife Seychelles) Denis The fruits of this tree resemble small, and is accessed by small boat from pale cucumbers and, when parrots have Praslin. It is open, mornings only, from been feeding, many discards can be Monday to Thursday. Nature Seychelles INDIAN OCEAN found below the trees. If you can find can be contacted on Mahé on tel. trees with such discards, early morn- 22 5097 or the warden may be con- CENTRAL SEYCHELLES ing is the ideal time to see these birds tacted on tel. 23 3090. in action. The best way of seeing par- Because of its importance as a conser- Aride rots at Vallée de Mai itself is to watch vation site, the island is carefully man- Curieuse from the road below (west of) the main aged and groups of visitors are guided, Cousin entrance to the nature trail. Position rather than allowed to wander at will. Praslin yourself overlooking one of the river The three key birds here are Seychelles La Digue valleys. While on Praslin, do not miss Magpie-Robin, Seychelles Warbler and Silhouette the opportunity to visit nearby Aride Seychelles Fody. Both the magpie-robin or Cousin islands, where most of the and the warbler have, in the past, hov- Victoria remainder of the endemic landbirds ered on the brink of extinction. All are Frégate can be found. locally common on the island and are Conception usually visible from the main path. In Mahé Cousin Island addition, White-tailed Tropicbird, Brown Cousin Island is a Special Nature Re - and Lesser noddies, and Bridled and serve that was purchased by the Royal Fairy terns all breed on Cousin and are Society for Nature Conservation (RSNC) easily seen. Audubon’s and Wedge-tailed shearwaters also breed here, but mainly ROSS waNLESS in areas inaccessible to the public. La Digue La Digue is the only island where the spectacular Seychelles Paradise- Flycatcher can be seen. Although it is a rare bird (fewer than 200 indi- viduals remain), it is fairly easy to find. It is dependent on mature coastal broad-leaved woodland, and to locate this habitat, walk south from the Left Seychelles Bulbuls are common on all the larger islands, and are conspicu- ous, noisy and aggressive. Opposite, top The White-tailed Tropic- bird is one of the few seabirds that can be seen reliably on Mahé. Opposite, bottom left The Seychelles Scops-Owl was discovered in the late 19th century, but was declared extinct in 1958. Rediscovered in 1960, the popula- tion is now thought to number about 130–150 pairs. Opposite, bottom right The botani- cal gardens in Victoria, Mahé, is a good place to see Seychelles Blue-Pigeon. TREVOR HARDAKER (2) 40 SEYCHELLES AFRICA – BIRDS & BIRDING APRIL/MAY 2007 SEYCHELLES 41 martiN HARVEY Malabar inter-island schooner jetty (or take an Fody, Seychelles Blue-Pigeon, Seychelles Picard ox-drawn cart if you are feeling lazy): Magpie-Robin and Seychelles Sunbird. within a kilometre of the jetty there are Aride is accessible by boat from Praslin. Grand Terre patches of woodland on the left-hand Opening days vary, but usually include ALDABRA ATOLL COSMOLÉDO ATOLL side of the road that contain these fly- Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday.
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