Tag: "Madagascar Holidays"

Top 10 African Birds! Do you agree?

I have been with Rainbow Tours since 26 June 2000 (coincidentally Madagascar’s Independence Day) and have been a keen birder ever since I can remember. Often, birds are my “window” into a new country, and I then study other aspects afterwards. These ten birds are not necessarily the rarest or the most beautiful, but certainly memorable when visitors make that ‘eye-to-brain’ connection with them, even non-birders and especially, for beginner birders.

Shoebill - Uganda

Dinosaur like; even non birders want to see this prehistoric-looking creature. Nationally rare in Uganda but reliably seen there; also present in Akagera (Rwanda) and in west Tanzania. Nothing can prepare you for making that eye-to-brain connection with one of these monsters of the swamps, where they use their massive beaks to pull lungfish out of mud.

Shoebill

Pink pigeon – Mauritius

Saved from the very brink of extinction by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, (and yes it really IS pink), this beautiful pigeon survived extinction centuries earlier probably due to unpalatable flesh, which is believed to be largely thanks to a berry with narcotic properties – upon gorging themselves on these berries, the said pigeons were reported to flop down onto the ground and lie there in a daze for a while…

Pink pigeon - Photo by Rhett Butler

Blue Crane – South Africa & Namibia

South Africa’s iconic national bird, a beautiful, graceful creature; unmistakable with a very catholic diet; also found in Namibia. Inhabits open grasslands. Endangered.

Blue crane

Pittalike ground-roller – Madagascar

Widely regarded as the most beautiful of Madagascar‘s endemic birds, the ground-rollers are an endemic family of shy, forest-dwelling beauties. This one, as its name implies, is strikingly lovely and like its congeners, is best sought during spring and summer when they call.

Pittalike ground-roller - photo by Olivier Langrand

Knysna Turacou – South Africa

Exquisite crested, long-tailed green bird with striking crimson wing panels which show in flight; all the true Turacous contain a unique pigment (turacoverdin, related to copper) which gives the blood-red colour to their flight feathers. Eats fruit; denizen of evergreen forests from the Garden route/ eastern Cape north to KZN.

Knysna turacou - photo by Schristia

Black Paradise Flycatcher – Seychelles

The avian gem of the Seychelles, this beauty is confined to the idyllic island of La Digue where much effort has been made to save the remaining population; critically endangered but commonly seen in the ‘Veuve reserve’, an unofficially protected site in this island’s dense woods.

Seychelles black paradise flycatcher

Lilac-Breasted Roller – Kenya, Botswana

Iconic African savannah bird, almost a ‘junk bird’ in Botswana it is so common there – but beautiful and symbolic of the African bush.

Lilac-breasted roller

Kori Bustard - Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia

The world’s heaviest flying bird, this massive and increasingly rare terrestrial bird is found in much of sub-Saharan Africa – good places to seek it range from Kruger Park to Serengeti.

‘My partner pointed this bird out to me and said it was a Bustard – I told him to mind his language!!!!’, reads one description of the bird, explaining then that ‘bustard’ comes from the French ‘bistarde’ meaning ‘slow bird’. Males can weigh 20kg. And they are anything but slow…

Kori bustard

Bateleur – Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa

Bateleur means acrobat in French, a reference to this short-tailed eagle’s remarkable aerial antics and displays. Almost abundant in Botswana, Zambia, parts of Zimbabwe, South Africa and eastern Africa. Also one of the most attractive of raptors.

Bateleur

Palm-nut Vulture - Uganda, KwaZulu Natal South Africa, Mozambique

Unique among raptors in being a vegetarian vulture which has evolved to live on an extremely specialised diet of oil palm kernels. Common on the Victoria Nile in Uganda, ranges down to KZN – look for it at and near St Lucia.

Palm-nut vulture

Do any of these birds make your Top 10?  Have we left any out?

Top 10 Lemurs of Madagascar

160 million years ago Madagascar separated from the super continent of Gondwanaland, and forged its own evolutionary path. Today, 80 per cent of its wildlife is found nowhere else on earth, including the iconic lemurs, stars of the recent Attenborough BBC series. There are over 90 lemur species – some so tiny they fit in a match box and others that can leap a full ten metres. Many are endangered species, threatened by farming, the clearing of forests for fire wood and hunting. Here are some of my favourites.

Indri – the ‘panda bear’ lemur

The largest of the surviving lemurs, the cuddly Indri is about the size of a female chimp. Almost tail-less, they have piercing green eyes and are best known for their eerie whale-like calls, which can carry for up to 3km. You can only see them in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park (Perinet/Analamazaotra), their Malagasy rainforest home, as they don’t survive in captivity.

Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur – the Kylie Minogue of the lemur world

The smallest primate in the world, weighing only 30 grams, Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur is probably the cutest. This star of the lemur world is strictly nocturnal and can be found in the Kirindy Forest, north of Morondava, an area also famed for its bountiful baobabs.

Ringtail lemur – Madagascar’s WAG Pack

Madagascar’s trademark and national mammal, Ringtails hang out in large matriarchal groups, squabble regularly but defend their patch together with gusto. The most ground-based of all the lemurs, their distinctive ‘Davy Crocket’ tails make them easy to identify. They are widespread across the sub-arid South of Madagascar. See them in Berenty, Isalo and Andringitra National Parks, Ifotaka and Anjaha.

Coquerel’s sifaka – the Strictly Come Dancing lemur

Sifakas come in a number of variations and all are endearing and acrobatic. Although almost completely arboreal, living and moving through the trees, their long legs and tails help them to gracefully ‘dance’ across open spaces. Coquerel’s sifika is critically endangered but commonly seen at Ankarafantsika National Park (Ampijoroa) and at Anjajavy.

Eastern lesser bamboo lemur – the gentle lemur

The best known of the Bamboo or Gentle lemur family, unsurprisingly the Eastern lesser mostly eats bamboo. These have been the most heavily hunted lemurs in Madagascar, often kept in captivity as pets, and now have a conservation status of ‘vulnerable’. Whilst on your Madagascar holiday, you can see them in the wild in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park (Perinet/Analamazaotra) and Ranomafana.

Aye Aye – the gremlin of Madagascar’s forests

The Aye Aye epitomizes all that is fascinating about Madagascar’s unique wildlife. This secretive nocturnal inhabitant of the Malagasy rainforests looks as if it is composed of random body parts: a fox’s tail, bat ears, rodent incisors, and remarkable tarantula-like hands. See the Aye Aye in the uninhabited island reserve of Nosy Mangabe, Ambaniala (near Maroantsetra), and even in Perinet.

Red ruffed – the best dressed lemur

This large and extremely vociferous lemur has a strikingly luxuriant red and black pelage, and wins the accolade of ‘best dressed’ lemur. Perhaps a little blousy, our flamboyant friend prioritises its grooming routine, and that of its friends, using its toothcomb like front teeth. You’ll have to visit the Masoala National Park, in the northeast corner of Madagascar to see the Red-ruffed lemur as this is the only place where they survive.

Milne-Edwards’ sifaka – if George Clooney was a lemur he’d probably be a Milne Edwards

Another member of the graceful sifika family, the Milne Edwards is uber chic, with a debonair, understated creamy white and chocolate brown coat, and smouldering ruby-red eyes. Not as showy as some but the height of sartorial elegance and found in the Ranomafana National Park.

Black lemur – the laid-back beach-bum

Males are jet black and females a rich reddish-brown. Black lemur are only found on Nosy Be, Nosy Komba and in a small area of the Sambirano domain on the mainland. Black lemurs are best known for their fondness for licking certain millipedes which exude an intoxicating substance, leaving the lemurs dazed and glassy-eyed, but totally ‘blissed-out’.

Crowned lemur – royal lemurs for a royal year

Part of the ‘true lemur’ grouping, both male and female Crowned lemurs wear v-shaped tiaras – the males’ tiaras are black and females’ tiaras (pictured) are grey and orange. Crowned lemurs are common in Montagne d’Ambre National Park and in the far north of Madagascar in Ankarana Special Reserve. Wonder what they’ll be doing on 29 April?

With thanks (and apologies) to Derek Schuurman, co-author of Globetrotter Travel Guide: Madagascar, co-author of Bradt’s ‘Madagascar Wildlife’ guide and contributor to Conservation International’s ‘Field Guide to the Lemurs of Madagascar’.

Which of these lemurs would you like to see on your next Madagascar holiday?