DOCSLIB.ORG

Madagascar Comprehensive IV 9Th to 29Th November 2017 (21 Days) Trip Report

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Madagascar Comprehensive IV 9Th to 29Th November 2017 (21 Days) Trip Report Madagascar Comprehensive IV 9th to 29th November 2017 (21 days) Trip Report Madagascar Leaf-nosed Snake by Rand Rudland Trip report compiled by Tour Leader, Adam Walleyn Rockjumper Birding Tours | Madagascar www.rockjumperbirding.com Trip Report – RBL Madagascar - Comprehensive IV 2017 2 Tour Summary We started off the comprehensive tour with lunch at our pleasant hotel on the outskirts of Antananarivo and then boarded a bus to weave our way through the busy traffic into the downtown area. Here, a private reserve at Lac Alarobia is a haven for waterbirds, and offered an excellent start to our Madagascar birding. We were greeted by throngs of Red-billed Teal and White-faced Whistling Ducks and were soon enjoying several Meller’s Duck – an endangered species that is now seemingly thriving at this location. We also saw a few Hottentot Teal and a pair of bulky Knob-billed Ducks. Herons were in abundance, including large nesting colonies of Dimorphic Egret, Cattle Egret, Black Heron, Squacco Heron and Black-crowned Night Heron. Smaller numbers of Great Egret and Striated Heron were also present; but it took some searching to find the most wanted heron here, the endangered Malagasy Pond Heron. We eventually enjoyed good looks at three birds in full breeding regalia. A nice bonus was a pair of Madagascan Grebe – yet another endangered waterbird. Along the borders of the lake lurked Common Moorhen and a White-throated Rail by Rand Rudland single Red-knobbed Coot; while a White-throated Rail paraded around in the open, giving simply incredible looks. We also had our first sightings of a couple more common endemics, such as Malagasy Kestrel, Red Fody, Malagasy Brush Warbler and superb little Malagasy Kingfishers to conclude a wonderful start to our birding. We then headed back to our hotel to enjoy a dinner and discuss plans for the adventure ahead. After a tasty breakfast, we loaded up our set of four-wheel-drives. After navigating the early morning Tana traffic, we were headed eastbound for the incredible rainforests of Andasibe. It was a largely birdless drive through rice paddies and eucalyptus plantations but we did stop for a Hamerkop and then scoped up a pair of Madagascan Pratincoles at the Mangoro River. Eventually, we arrived at our rainforest lodge set right on the edge of Analamazoatra Reserve and were soon hearing the evocative wails of Indri and enjoying bright green Striped Day Geckos. After lunch, we set off straight for the reserve, Collared Nightjar by Peter Friedmann where our fantastic local guide had a steady stream of exciting wildlife to show us! We saw our first forest birds, like Spectacled Tetraka, Nelicourvi Weaver and Stripe-throated Jery, but things really started getting exciting when our guide showed us a rufous morph Rainforest Scops Owl peering down at us from its tangled roost. We then headed up the hill, where a Madagascan Wood Rail nest was unfortunately unoccupied – probably Rockjumper Birding Tours | Madagascar www.rockjumperbirding.com Trip Report – RBL Madagascar - Comprehensive IV 2017 3 having fledged out the day before. We had better luck at a Madagascan Sparrowhawk nest, where we could enjoy excellent scope views of this rare forest raptor sitting up on its nest. We next visited a Collared Nightjar nest that had also just fledged, fortunately the youngster was roosting on the ground just beside the nest. The bird was in almost full adult plumage, with just a bit of down left on the underside. The cryptic colouration of this species makes it one of the most beautiful and poorly-known birds in the country, and we gorged in the great views of this special bird. Hearing some Indris wailing nearby, we set off in search of them but instead found a pair of roosting Eastern Wooly Lemurs, staring quizzically at us with their big orange eyes. We then headed back down the hill where our local guide played a fun game with us called “spot the leaf-tailed gecko” and we were eventually able to spot it. This was a Mossy Leaf-tailed Gecko and its camouflage really has to be seen to be believed. We were also fortunate to get good views of a couple of beautiful snakes – Perinet Tree Snake and Eastern Wooly Lemurs by Rand Rudland Lateral Water Snake. At this stage we had to leave the reserve, as it was closing for the day, but just before the gate we lingered when we had a female and chick Madagascan Flufftail showing incredibly well on the edge of the path – really superb! From the gate, we walked a short distance where we were able to scope up a fantastic Madagascan Owl sitting on an exposed perch within an exotic pine plantation. At this stage, thunder that had been rumbling louder and louder for the past hour was starting to sound very close indeed, so we beat a hasty retreat back to our lodge where the heavens promptly opened up and an absolute deluge of rain beat down – our timing could not have been better. The rains did clear up in time for a night walk, and we had a fantastic series of critters – our first chameleons, both Short-horned and Nose-horned, were enjoyed with raindrops still clinging to their skin. Frogs were calling abundantly, although we could only locate one species – the Boophis viridis. A Webbs’ Tuft-tailed Rat clambering around in some low vegetation was a bonus find. Lemurs were a bit elusive initially in the damp conditions, but we did glimpse a Goodman’s Mouse Lemur, we had good views of Eastern Wooly Lemurs and then got progressively better views of Furry- eared Dwarf Lemurs. The final dwarf lemur showed superbly well and ending on this high note we headed back to the lodge for dinner and straight off to bed with an early start Boophis viridis by Rand Rudland ahead. We headed out early this morning to the excellent Mantadia National Park. The distance is not far but the road is certainly bumpy, and after last night’s downpour the driving was a bit more tricky than normal. Eventually, we arrived at the forest and spent the morning birding, making numerous stops Rockjumper Birding Tours | Madagascar www.rockjumperbirding.com Trip Report – RBL Madagascar - Comprehensive IV 2017 4 along the road in search of the many special birds to be found here. During one of our first stops, we heard the much-desired Pitta-like Ground Roller and soon had four birds bopping all around us. Initially the birds were a bit elusive, but eventually one settled down, offering us unbeatable views of this, arguably the most beautiful of all Malagasy birds. We headed off in search of Scaly Ground Roller next, a much more challenging species to catch up with. This bird led us on quite the chase for a while, but it too eventually settled down and offered us superb views of its wonderfully cryptic scaly plumage. Indeed, we were able to see an adult bringing food to its underground nest! We then tried to find the third ground roller here – Short-legged Ground Roller, but this difficult species was completely silent and we Pitta-like Ground Roller by Rand Rudland drew a blank. We also spent quite a bit of time searching for Red-breasted Coua. After a bush bash, we heard a couple of different birds calling at reasonably close range but just could not get close enough to the birds to see them. Other good sightings during our morning’s birding included France’s Sparrowhawk, Madagascan Buzzard, Madagascan Blue Pigeon, Blue Coua, Lesser Vasa Parrots, Red- tailed Vanga, Common Newtonia, Ward’s Flycatcher, Rand’s Warbler, Green Jery, Malagasy Green Sunbird and Madagascan Starling – quite the list! We also saw a chick Madagascan Pygmy Kingfisher outside its nesting hole, but the adult was nowhere to be seen. It was now time to pause for a picnic lunch, but our meal was interrupted on a couple of occasions – firstly by a Baron’s Mantella, one of the most beautiful of all the world’s frogs, and then by a family group of about 7 Eastern Bamboo Lemurs which showed very well. After lunch, we tracked down a family group of Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs. This striking and often elusive lemur put on quite the show for us and got into a bit of screaming match at one stage – spectacular! We then visited a Madagascan Ibis nest but were disappointed to find it recently fledged, so we carried on to a small lake. Here we had a breeding plumaged Madagascan Grebe along with a couple of new species – Madagascan Spinetail low overhead and both Madagascan Swamp Warbler and Dark Newtonia giving us very nice views. The Scaly Ground Roller by Rand Rudland latter species occurs here at an unusually low elevation. The long drive home was uneventful and a try at Madagascan Rail had to be aborted as the afternoon downpour hit. Indeed, today’s downpour was probably even harder than yesterday’s, but good timing for us again. One final highlight at the end of our long day was an Indri feeding up high in Rockjumper Birding Tours | Madagascar www.rockjumperbirding.com Trip Report – RBL Madagascar - Comprehensive IV 2017 5 the light rain just behind our cabins – not a bad way to end a wonderful day in the field! With the rain continuing into the evening, we cancelled our planned night walk and enjoyed a slightly earlier dinner, with another big day ahead. Another early start saw us heading off in a different direction to a site that gets very little visitation – Ioroka Forest.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • ISSAP Madagascar Pond Heron
    Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals Secretariat provided by the United Nations Environment Programme 15 th MEETING OF THE CMS SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL Rome, Italy, 27-28 November 2008 UNEP/CMS/ScC15/Doc.6 DRAFT INTERNATIONAL SINGLE SPECIES ACTION PLAN FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE MADAGASCAR POND HERON ARDEOLA IDAE (Introductory note prepared by the Secretariat) 1. The Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Madagascar Pond Heron Ardeola idae was initiated jointly by CMS and AEWA in 2007 upon a recommendation of the 14 th Meeting of the CMS Scientific Council. 2. The plan covers the entire range of this intra-African migrant. The drafting of the Plan was commissioned to the BirdLife International Africa Partnership Secretariat with financial support provided by the Ministry of Environment of Italy and was compiled by a team under the management of Paul Kariuki Ndang’ang’a. Earlier drafts of the Plan have been consulted extensively with experts and governmental officials at the Range States. 3. The Plan has already been adopted by the 4 th Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (Antananarivo, Madagascar, 15-19 September 2008). Action requested: The Scientific Council is requested to: a. review and endorse the Plan; and b. transmit the Plan to the Conference of the Parties for adoption. For reasons of economy, documents are printed in a limited number, and will not be distributed at the meeting. Delegates are kindly requested to bring their copy to the meeting and not to request additional copies. DISCLAIMER The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP/CMS concerning the legal status of any State, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of their frontiers and boundaries.
    [Show full text]
  • Madagascar, 1998
    A mammal, bird, reptile, orchid and people-watching trip to - Madagascar (and a very short stay in Mauritius) 18-10-98 to 21-11-98 Dave Siems and Steve Anyon-Smith “weird (verb) – Madagascar” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When our first guide, Patrice Rabearisoa, asked us what we wanted to see, he went white (not easy) at our reply – “we want to see all the birds, mammals, reptiles, orchids and everything else of interest in the forest, in no particular order.” He showed us all these things and more in the paradise that was, and still is, in parts, Madagascar. Outline of Trip “Madagascar” I said to Dave, and his eyes lit up. Five weeks later we were looking at lemurs. Our advice was that there was no safe or even practical way to visit a country populated by thieves, thugs and other human detritus of the worst order. There was said to be no usable public transport and if the food or the locals didn’t kill you, the insects most definitely would. So Dave and I set out to test these propositions. Madagascar is renowned for its wildlife, political instability and not much else. Our mission was to see as much of the native fauna and flora as possible during a five-week stay. We used public transport at all times and hired local guides at every location (this is generally compulsory anyway). We scattered ourselves widely throughout the country as the habitats are extremely varied, boasting rainforest, semi-desert, the so-called spiny forest and anything in between. Our expectations for the trip were not high given that we had little prior information and fully expected to be roasted slowly over a kitchen fire somewhere if we had managed to avoid perishing in a traffic accident.
    [Show full text]
  • MADAGASCAR: the Wonders of the “8Th Continent” a Tropical Birding Custom Trip
    MADAGASCAR: The Wonders of the “8th Continent” A Tropical Birding Custom Trip October 20—November 6, 2016 Guide: Ken Behrens All photos taken during this trip by Ken Behrens Annotated bird list by Jerry Connolly TOUR SUMMARY Madagascar has long been a core destination for Tropical Birding, and with the opening of a satellite office in the country several years ago, we further solidified our expertise in the “Eighth Continent.” This custom trip followed an itinerary similar to that of our main set-departure tour. Although this trip had a definite bird bias, it was really a general natural history tour. We took our time in observing and photographing whatever we could find, from lemurs to chameleons to bizarre invertebrates. Madagascar is rich in wonderful birds, and we enjoyed these to the fullest. But its mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects are just as wondrous and accessible, and a trip that ignored them would be sorely missing out. We also took time to enjoy the cultural riches of Madagascar, the small villages full of smiling children, the zebu carts which seem straight out of the Middle Ages, and the ingeniously engineered rice paddies. If you want to come to Madagascar and see it all… come with Tropical Birding! Madagascar is well known to pose some logistical challenges, especially in the form of the national airline Air Madagascar, but we enjoyed perfectly smooth sailing on this tour. We stayed in the most comfortable hotels available at each stop on the itinerary, including some that have just recently opened, and savored some remarkably good food, which many people rank as the best Madagascar Custom Tour October 20-November 6, 2016 they have ever had on any birding tour.
    [Show full text]
  • Disaggregation of Bird Families Listed on Cms Appendix Ii
    Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 2nd Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the CMS Scientific Council (ScC-SC2) Bonn, Germany, 10 – 14 July 2017 UNEP/CMS/ScC-SC2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II (Prepared by the Appointed Councillors for Birds) Summary: The first meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council identified the adoption of a new standard reference for avian taxonomy as an opportunity to disaggregate the higher-level taxa listed on Appendix II and to identify those that are considered to be migratory species and that have an unfavourable conservation status. The current paper presents an initial analysis of the higher-level disaggregation using the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World Volumes 1 and 2 taxonomy, and identifies the challenges in completing the analysis to identify all of the migratory species and the corresponding Range States. The document has been prepared by the COP Appointed Scientific Councilors for Birds. This is a supplementary paper to COP document UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.25.3 on Taxonomy and Nomenclature UNEP/CMS/ScC-Sc2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II 1. Through Resolution 11.19, the Conference of Parties adopted as the standard reference for bird taxonomy and nomenclature for Non-Passerine species the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Non-Passerines, by Josep del Hoyo and Nigel J. Collar (2014); 2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Freshwater Crab Liberonautes Latidactylus (De Man, 1903) Preys on Adult Allen’S Giant Frog, Conraua Alleni (Barbour and Loveridge, 1927)
    Herpetology Notes, volume 12: 1073-1076 (2019) (published online on 29 October 2019) The freshwater crab Liberonautes latidactylus (de Man, 1903) preys on adult Allen’s Giant Frog, Conraua alleni (Barbour and Loveridge, 1927) Marvin Schäfer1,*, Joseph Doumbia2, and Mark-Oliver Rödel1 Post-metamorphic anuran amphibians are preyed therein), the role of freshwater crabs as predators is upon by many vertebrates (reviewed by Toledo et less well documented, but particularly for frogs, might al., 2007) and invertebrate predators (Toledo, 2005; be underrated. Freshwater crabs are known to feed on Wells, 2007). Amongst invertebrates, spiders are eggs (Hayes, 1983), tadpoles (Gray and Christy, 2000), most frequently listed (for a recent review concerning juvenile (Affonso and Signorelli, 2011) and adult African examples, see Babangenge et al., 2019), but frogs (Tsuji, 2005; Rosa et al., 2014; Wehrtmann et al., unusual anuran specialists like the carabid beetles 2019). Hence, all anuran life stages are potential prey Epomis have become known as well (Wizen and Gasith, of freshwater crabs. Interestingly, the ability to hunt 2011). Although Diesel (1989) reports an example seems to decrease in freshwater crabs exceeding 25 mm of a tree-hole breeding crab, occasionally preying on of carapace width. Large individuals are supposed to be anuran eggs and tadpoles, crustaceans are only rarely less agile, and hence less effective in capturing elusive mentioned as amphibian predators. Toledo (2005) only prey (Williams, 1962; Williams, 1965; Dobson, 2004). lists one species of decapod crab as a predator of post- Consequently, one might assume that larger and agile metamorphic anurans. More recently, Pyke et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecosystem Profile Madagascar and Indian
    ECOSYSTEM PROFILE MADAGASCAR AND INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS FINAL VERSION DECEMBER 2014 This version of the Ecosystem Profile, based on the draft approved by the Donor Council of CEPF was finalized in December 2014 to include clearer maps and correct minor errors in Chapter 12 and Annexes Page i Prepared by: Conservation International - Madagascar Under the supervision of: Pierre Carret (CEPF) With technical support from: Moore Center for Science and Oceans - Conservation International Missouri Botanical Garden And support from the Regional Advisory Committee Léon Rajaobelina, Conservation International - Madagascar Richard Hughes, WWF – Western Indian Ocean Edmond Roger, Université d‘Antananarivo, Département de Biologie et Ecologie Végétales Christopher Holmes, WCS – Wildlife Conservation Society Steve Goodman, Vahatra Will Turner, Moore Center for Science and Oceans, Conservation International Ali Mohamed Soilihi, Point focal du FEM, Comores Xavier Luc Duval, Point focal du FEM, Maurice Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, Point focal du FEM, Seychelles Edmée Ralalaharisoa, Point focal du FEM, Madagascar Vikash Tatayah, Mauritian Wildlife Foundation Nirmal Jivan Shah, Nature Seychelles Andry Ralamboson Andriamanga, Alliance Voahary Gasy Idaroussi Hamadi, CNDD- Comores Luc Gigord - Conservatoire botanique du Mascarin, Réunion Claude-Anne Gauthier, Muséum National d‘Histoire Naturelle, Paris Jean-Paul Gaudechoux, Commission de l‘Océan Indien Drafted by the Ecosystem Profiling Team: Pierre Carret (CEPF) Harison Rabarison, Nirhy Rabibisoa, Setra Andriamanaitra,
    [Show full text]
  • Madagascar: the 8Th Continent with Naturalist Journeys & Caligo Ventures Nov
    Madagascar: The 8th Continent With Naturalist Journeys & Caligo Ventures Nov. 26 – Dec. 10, 2018 866.900.1146 800.426.7781 520.558.1146 [email protected] www.naturalistjourneys.com or find us on Facebook at Naturalist Journeys, LLC Naturalist Journeys, LLC / Caligo Ventures PO Box 16545 Portal, AZ 85632 PH: 520.558.1146 / 800.426.7781 Fax 650.471.7667 naturalistjourneys.com / caligo.com [email protected] / [email protected] Madagascar: The 8th Continent With Naturalist Journeys & Caligo Ventures Isolated from any continental landmass since the Cretaceous period, Madagascar has drifted through the Indian Ocean, following its own evolutionary course, having only five major terrestrial animal colonization events since the time of the dinosaurs. The result is an island where every land mammal is endemic, as are nearly half the bird species. Reptiles are well represented as well, like chameleons, and day and leaf-tailed geckos. The uniqueness of this island’s fauna makes it one of the world’s great destinations for the birdwatcher and naturalist, alike. Our tour features both birds and mammals. We focus on Madagascar’s most iconic and charismatic bird species (we hope to see over 95% of the endemics), as well as the Island's other oddities, like endearing lemurs and strikingly bizarre chameleons. We also focus on the Island’s geology and geography with resulting various habitats ― from the spiny forests of Ifaty with its towering baobabs and other-worldly Didierea octopus trees, to the verdant rainforests of Andasibe-Mantadia
    [Show full text]
  • FIELD GUIDES BIRDING TOURS: Madagascar, Mauritius & Reunion 2012
    Field Guides Tour Report Madagascar, Mauritius & Reunion 2012 Nov 10, 2012 to Dec 6, 2012 Phil Gregory & Jesse Fagan For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE. This was my third run-through for this comprehensive tour of Madagascar, which Field Guides has been running since 1986, and the first time for Jesse, and again we had a great tour, albeit with lots of traveling on slow roads, the vagaries of Air Madagascar, and as always the unexpected, like two of the major bridges en route to Berenty being out of use and necessitating some rapid improvisation. For the second time in recent years we offered an extension to the Masoala Peninsula in quest of Madagascar’s icon bird, the Helmet Vanga, and boy did that pay off, with amazing views of one sitting on the same nest as in 2011, more or less at eye level, with another one nearby! Bernier's Vanga was tough and required a couple of hours walking and the wading of two shallow creeks, but this too paid off nicely with great views of at least 3 female birds and a brief look at a male, as well as another Helmet Vanga. We lost a night due to flight complications, and we had quite a bumpy and damp sea crossing, but the Masoala extension also included Collared Nightjar, Short-legged Ground-Roller, Red-breasted Coua, Red Ruffed Lemur, White-fronted Brown Lemur, and Weasel (Sportive) Lemur, all from a rustic but perfectly adequate lodge set Easily one of Madascar's most spectacular birds, the incredible Helmet Vanga is one of the main targets right by the forest.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Victoria Department of Biology INCREASES IN
    University of Victoria Department of Biology INCREASES IN CHARCOAL PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A SUSTAINABLE CHARCOAL SUPPLY CHAIN TO THE CITY OF TOLIARA IN SOUTHWESTERN MADAGASCAR WORK TERM REPORT In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Biology Co-op Program Winter 2010 Work Term 1 By Julie Bremner WWF Explore International Youth Volunteer Performed at : WWF Madagascar and West Indian Ocean Programme Office Ankilimalinika, Madagascar Job Supervisor : Rina Andrianarivony Fuel wood Project Officer 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 2 INTRODUCTION 3 DISCUSSION 8 CONCLUSION 16 WORKS CITED 18 MAPS 20 2 ABSTRACT The Spiny Forest Ecoregion of Southwestern Madagascar is a zone of tremendous biodiversity and endemism. It is of key importance to the subsistence lives of villagers in the region and the urban population of Toliara that increasingly depends on forest fuel wood resources for their daily energy needs. Prolonged drought conditions in the area have led to increasing demands on the forest while villagers switch from farming to charcoal production as a means of earning a living. Urban population growth and resultant fuel wood demand increase has further exacerbated the deforestation of the spiny forest, which is currently exhibiting the highest rate of deforestation in Madagascar. WWF has stepped in to attempt to mitigate future forest loss through the establishment of the Synergy Energy Environment in the South West (SEESO) project. SEESO has as its goal the establishment of a sustainable fuel wood supply chain to the city of Toliara originating from the Atsimo-Andrefana region. The project is encouraging the adoption of a more efficient charcoal production technique, the plantation of trees for future charcoal production and the implementation of a system of regulations and governing bodies that will ensure the prolonged sustainability of the region’s forest resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Breeding Birds of the Texas Coast
    Roseate Spoonbill • L 32”• Uncom- Why Birds are Important of the mon, declining • Unmistakable pale Breeding Birds Texas Coast pink wading bird with a long bill end- • Bird abundance is an important indicator of the ing in flat “spoon”• Nests on islands health of coastal ecosystems in vegetation • Wades slowly through American White Pelican • L 62” Reddish Egret • L 30”• Threatened in water, sweeping touch-sensitive bill •Common, increasing • Large, white • Revenue generated by hunting, photography, and Texas, decreasing • Dark morph has slate- side to side in search of prey birdwatching helps support the coastal economy in bird with black flight feathers and gray body with reddish breast, neck, and Chuck Tague bright yellow bill and pouch • Nests Texas head; white morph completely white – both in groups on islands with sparse have pink bill with Black-bellied Whistling-Duck vegetation • Preys on small fish in black tip; shaggy- • L 21”• Lo- groups looking plumage cally common, increasing • Goose-like duck Threats to Island-Nesting Bay Birds Chuck Tague with long neck and pink legs, pinkish-red bill, Greg Lavaty • Nests in mixed- species colonies in low vegetation or on black belly, and white eye-ring • Nests in tree • Habitat loss from erosion and wetland degradation cavities • Occasionally nests in mesquite and Brown Pelican • L 51”• Endangered in ground • Uses quick, erratic movements to • Predators such as raccoons, feral hogs, and stir up prey Chuck Tague other woody vegetation on bay islands Texas, but common and increasing • Large
    [Show full text]
  • Avian Malaria on Madagascar: Prevalence, Biodiversity and Specialization of Haemosporidian Parasites
    International Journal for Parasitology 49 (2019) 199–210 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal for Parasitology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpara Avian malaria on Madagascar: prevalence, biodiversity and specialization of haemosporidian parasites q ⇑ Sandrine Musa a, , Ute Mackenstedt a, Friederike Woog b,1, Anke Dinkel a,1 a University of Hohenheim, Emil-Wolff-Str. 34, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany b State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany article info abstract Article history: Previous studies about geographic patterns of species diversity of avian malaria parasites and others in Received 18 March 2018 the Order Haemosporida did not include the avian biodiversity hotspot Madagascar. Since there are Received in revised form 31 October 2018 few data available on avian malaria parasites on Madagascar, we conducted the first known large- Accepted 1 November 2018 scale molecular-based study to investigate their biodiversity. Samples (1067) from 55 bird species were Available online 22 November 2018 examined by a PCR method amplifying nearly the whole haemosporidian cytochrome b gene (1063 bp). The parasite lineages found were further characterized phylogenetically and the degree of specialization Keywords: was determined with a newly introduced host diversity index (Hd). Our results demonstrate that Plasmodium Madagascar indeed represents a biodiversity hotspot for avian malaria parasites as we detected 71 genet- Haemoproteus Leucocytozoon ically distinct parasite lineages of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus. Furthermore, by using a Host diversity phylogenetic approach and including the sequence divergence we suspect that the detected haemo- sporidian lineages represent at least 29 groups i.e. proposed species. The here presented Hd values for each parasite regarding host species, genus and family strongly support previous works demonstrating the elastic host ranges of some avian parsites of the Order Haemosporida.
    [Show full text]
  • New Sahonagasy Action Plan 2016-2020
    New Sahonagasy Action Plan 2016-2020 1 New Sahonagasy Action Plan 2016 – 2020 Nouveau plan d’Action Sahonagasy 2016 – 2020 Edited by: Franco Andreone, IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group - Madagascar Jeff S. Dawson, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Falitiana C. E. Rabemananjara, IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group - Madagascar Nirhy H.C. Rabibisoa, IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group - Madagascar Tsanta F. Rakotonanahary, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust With assistance from: Candace M. Hansen-Hendrikx, Amphibian Survival Alliance James P. Lewis, Amphibian Survival Alliance/Rainforest Trust Published by: Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali (Turin, Italy) and Amphibian Survival Alliance (Warrenton, VA) Publication date: June 2016 Recommended citation: Andreone, F., Dawson, J.S., Rabemananjara, F.C.E., Rabibisoa, N.H.C. & Rakotonanahary, T.F. (eds). 2016. New Sahonagasy Action Plan 2016–2020 / Nouveau Plan d'Action Sahonagasy 2016–2020. Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali and Amphibian Survival Alliance, Turin. ISBN: 978-88-97189-26-8 Layout by: Candace M. Hansen-Hendrikx, Amphibian Survival Alliance Translation into French: Mathilde Malas, Speech Bubbles, www.speechbubbles.eu Printed by: Centro Stampa Regione Piemonte, Turin Front cover: Spinomantis aglavei, Gonçalo M. Rosa Back cover: Mantella expectata, Gonçalo M. Rosa IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature Founded in 1948, The International Union for Conservation of Nature brings together States, government agencies and a diverse range of nongovernmental organizations in a unique world partnership: over 1,000 members in all spread across some 140 countries. As a Union, IUCN seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
    [Show full text]