Ethan Kistler reports from Madagascar

Madagascar ranks high on birders’ list of places to visit and for good reason! On this three-week tour, we visited the dry tropical forests of Ankarafantsika, the baobab-dotted spiny forest of the southwest, succulent woodlands of the interior, and lowland rainforest of the east where we targeted all of the endemic orders and families that occur on the island. We were quite successful, to say the least, having seen all of the mesites, ground-rollers, and the monotypic Cuckoo-Roller, in addition to three of the four asities, and nine of the eleven Malagasy warblers. Vangas, which are no longer considered an endemic family (recently paired with helmetshrikes and allies), were well represented with twenty species recorded. On top of this, we saw a host of chameleons and fourteen species of lemurs, from the diminutive Brown Mouse Lemur to the impressive Indri along with the iconic Ring-tailed Lemur. Overall, it was a very successful tour! 

Gray-headed Lovebirds were common at our accommodation outside Isalo National Park. The Gray-headed is the only lovebird not found on mainland Africa.

The group enjoying closeup views of Ring-tailed Lemurs.

Pitta-like Ground-Roller is one of the five species of ground-rollers, an endemic family to Madagascar. We successfully completed the whole family.

This male Schlegel’s Asity was one of several visiting a fruiting tree in Ankarafantsika.

 This male Velvet Asity posed nicely while a female foraged nearby.