Red-tailed vanga

Calicalicus madagascariensis

Photo by Dubi Shapiro (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
red-tailed vanga (en); vanga-de-cauda-ruiva (pt); calicalic malgache (fr); vanga colirrojo (es); rotschwanzvanga (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Vangidae

Range:
This species is endemic to Madagascar, being found in the north of the country and along the eastern and western coasts.

Size:
These birds are 13,5-14 cm long and weigh 14-18 g.

Habitat:
The red-tailed vanga is found in both dry and moist tropical forests, also using dry scrublands and second growths.

Diet:
They feed on insects and other arthropods, namely spiders, beetles, crickets, cockroaches, butterflies, bees, mantids, dragonflies, millipedes, and caterpillars and other larvae.

Breeding:
Red-tailed vangas nest in a cup made of lichens, moss, woven plant fibres and spider cocoons. It is lined with twigs and soft materials and placed in a fork in a tree. Both male and female help build the nest. The female lays 2 greenish-blue eggs with reddish brown spots, which are incubated by both parents for about 23 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge about 15 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as common. There is no information regarding population trends, but the red-tailed vanga is not threatened at present.

Sickle-billed vanga

Falculea palliata

Photo by Dubi Shapiro (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
sickle-billed vanga (en); vanga-de-bico-curvo (pt); falculie mantelée (fr); vanga piquicurvo (es); sichelschnabelvanga (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Vangidae

Range:
This species is endemic to Madagascar, being found on the western side of the island.

Size:
These birds are 32 cm long and weigh 100-120 g.

Habitat:
The sickle-billed vanga is mostly found in dry tropical forests and scrublands, dry savannas and to a lesser extent in tropical moist forests and mangroves. They are found from sea level up to an altitude of 900 m.

Diet:
These birds often forage in groups, using their long bills to probe the bark of the trees for various invertebrates, such as spiders, cockroaches, crickets, beetles, and worms, but also small vertebrates such as chameleons and geckos.

Breeding:
Sickle-billed vangas breed in October-January. They are polyandrous, with each female matting with several males who are responsible for raising the chicks. The female performs courtship displays to attract the males. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a large untidy bowl of twigs, placed in a fork in a tree 9-16 m above the ground. There the female lays 3-4 creamy eggs with dark mottles, which are incubated by both sexes for 16-18 days. The males are mostly responsible for feeding and brooding the chicks, which fledge 19-23 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as common in areas of favourable habitat. There is no information regarding population trends, but the sickle-billed vanga is not considered threatened at present.

Bernier's vanga

Oriolia bernieri

Photo by Pete Morris (Surfbirds)

Common name:

Bernier's vanga (en); vanga-preto (pt); oriolie de Bernier (fr); vanga de Bernier (es); schwarzvanga (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Vangidae

Range:

This species is endemic to Madagascar, being scarce and patchily distributed in the north-eastern parts of the island, between Marojejy and Zahamena.

Size:

This medium-sized vanga is 23 cm long and weighs 59 g.

Habitat:

The Bernier's vanga is restricted to undisturbed, primary tracts of lowland humid evergreen forest.

Diet:

These birds mostly take large invertebrates, including beetles, crickets, cockroaches and spiders, but also geckos. They forage by searching the leaves and rooting around in the leaf-bases of pandanus Pandanus, ravenala Ravenala madagascariensis and palms, also levering rotten bark and moss off large tree-branches with its wedge-like bill.

Breeding:

Bernier's vangas breed in August-November. Both sexes build the nest, a cup made of decomposed roots, palm fibres, dry leaves, and moss. There the female lays 3 eggs which are incubated by both parents for about 17 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge about 17 days after hatching. The incubation and chick rearing duties may be shared between the breeding couple and young birds from previous clutches.

Conservation:

IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)

This species has a small breeding range and a global population of 2.55-10.000 individuals. This population is suspected to be in decline owing to the clearance and degradation of forests within the species's range. The principal threat to primary, lowland rainforest is posed by subsistence slash-and-burn cultivation, which results in progressively more degraded regrowth and leads eventually to bracken-covered areas or grassland. Much of the eastern coastal plain has either already been cleared or is covered by highly degraded forest, and the remaining habitat is under pressure from the increasing human population and commercial logging. If the present trends continue, the remaining forest (especially at lower altitudes) will disappear within decades.