Endemic birds of Madagascar and western Indian Ocean islands

This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the world's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.

Patterns of endemism

This region is notable not just for the high number of endemic species, but for endemism in higher-level taxonomic groupings too.

Order-level endemism

Two orders are endemic to Madagascar or the wider region:

• Mesites are placed within the Mesitornithiformes, an order containing three species in two genera.
• The cuckoo-roller is placed in the monotypic order Leptosomiformes. It is endemic to the wider region, as its single species is present on both Madagascar and Comores.

Family-level endemism

The following three families are endemic to Madagascar:

• Ground-rollers, a family within the Coraciiformes, containing five species in three genera.
• Asities, a passerine family within the Old World suboscines, containing four species in two genera
• Malagasy Warblers, a passerine family within the Old World oscines, containing eleven species in eight genera.

One other family is endemic to the wider region:

• The vangas, an oscine passerine family, containing sixteen species in eleven genera are endemic to the region. All but one species are confined to Madagascar, the sole exception being the Comoro blue vanga, restricted to Comores.

Subfamily-level endemism

• The nine species of coua (genus Coua, a subfamily of the cuckoos) are all Madagascan endemics.
• Two extinct species, the dodo of Mauritius and Rodrigues solitaire of Rodrigues are placed in the Raphinae (a subfamily of the doves and pigeons).
• the rock-thrushes, Monticola, in which three of the 13 species are endemic to Madagascar (these three are sometimes separated into their own genus, Pseudocossyphus).

Endemic Bird Areas

In Madagascar, the total wealth of known terrestrial is about 5,800 species (and 2,500 pending description), and 86 percent are endemic to the island.

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List of species

Species endemic to Madagascar

The following is a list of species endemic to Madagascar.

Note that:

• Madagascar partridge is endemic as a native species to Madagascar, but has been introduced on the Mascarenes
• Madagascar buttonquail is endemic as a native species to Madagascar, but has been introduced on the Mascarenes
• Madagascar turtle dove is endemic as a native species to Madagascar, but is thought to be an introduced species on the other islands in the region
• Grey-headed lovebird is endemic as a native species to Madagascar, but has been introduced to the Comoro Islands
• Madagascar fody is endemic as a native species to Madagascar, but has been introduced to many of the other islands in the region
• The Elephant bird is now extinct.

Species endemic to other islands or island groups in the region

The following is a list of species endemic to other islands.

Species endemic to the Mascarene group

• Mauritius kestrel
• Pink pigeon
• Mauritius parakeet
• Mascarene swiftlet
• Réunion bulbul
• Mauritius bulbul
• Réunion stonechat
• Mascarene paradise flycatcher
• Rodrigues warbler
• Mauritius olive white-eye
• Réunion olive white-eye
• Mauritius grey white-eye
• Réunion grey white-eye
• Mauritius cuckoo-shrike
• Réunion cuckoo-shrike
• Mauritius fody
• Rodrigues fody

Species endemic to the Comoros

• Comoro olive pigeon
• Comoro green pigeon
• Karthala scops-owl
• Anjouan scops-owl
• Anjouan cuckoo-roller
• Comoro bulbul
• Comoro thrush
• Humblot's flycatcher
• Comoro brush-warbler
• Benson's brush-warbler
• Kirk's white-eye
• Karthala white-eye
• Mayotte white-eye
• Comoro green sunbird
• Humblot's sunbird
• Anjouan sunbird
• Mayotte sunbird
• Comoro blue vanga
• Comoro cuckoo-shrike
• Mayotte drongo
• Grande Comore drongo
• Comoro fody

Species endemic to central Seychelles

• Seychelles kestrel
• Seychelles blue pigeon
• Seychelles black parrot
• Seychelles scops-owl
• Seychelles swiftlet
• Seychelles magpie-robin
• Seychelles black paradise flycatcher
• Seychelles warbler
• Seychelles white-eye
• Seychelles sunbird
• Seychelles fody

Species endemic to the Aldabra islands

• Aldabra rail
• Aldabra brush-warbler
• Abbott's sunbird
• Aldabra drongo
• Aldabra fody

There are native Madagascar turtle doves in the Aldabra group (separate races from those found on Madagascar); they may represent a separate species.

Other species endemic to the region

The following is a list of species which are not endemic to a specific island (or island group) but are endemic to the region as a whole.

• Malagasy sacred ibis (Aldabra, western coast of Madagascar)
• Réunion harrier (Madagascar, Comoros, Mascarenes)
• Frances's sparrowhawk (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Malagasy kestrel (Madagascar, Aldabra)
• Comoro blue pigeon (Comoros, Aldabra)
• Greater vasa parrot (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Lesser vasa parrot (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Malagasy coucal (Madagascar, Aldabra)
• Madagascar scops owl (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Madagascar nightjar (Madagascar, Aldabra)
• Madagascar black swift (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Madagascar spine-tailed swift (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Madagascar kingfisher (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Madagascar bee-eater (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Madagascar cuckoo-roller (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Mascarene martin (Madagascar, Mascarenes)
• Malagasy bulbul (Madagascar, Comoros, Aldabra)
• Malagasy paradise flycatcher (Madagascar, Comoros)
• Madagascar cisticola (Madagascar, Aldabra group)
• Malagasy brush-warbler (Madagascar, Mohéli, Anjouan)
• Malagasy white-eye (Madagascar, various other islands)
• Madagascar green sunbird (Madagascar, Mohéli)
• Souimanga sunbird (Aldabra, Madagascar)
• Crested drongo (Madagascar, Anjouan)

Near-endemics

The following is a list of species endemic to the region as breeding species:

• Madagascar squacco heron (breeding endemic on Madagascar & Aldabra, migrates to East Africa)
• Madagascar lesser cuckoo (endemic to Madagascar in the breeding season, winters in East Africa).

Two Western Palearctic falcons winter entirely (Eleonora's falcon) or mainly (sooty falcon) on Madagascar.

References

• Sinclair, Ian and Olivier Langrand (2003) Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands

This page was last edited on 16 October 2023, at 10:31