A couple of questions Wim
What is the bird migration situation in Madagascar? Is it possible that
you were there before the arrival of a number of summer migrants?
Could the skulking behaviour be a consequence of the local birds coming
under hunting pressure in the present or past?
Regards, Laurie
On Thursday, November 15, 2007, at 10:14 PM, Wim Vader wrote:
< snip >
And I still wrestle with a number of questions afterwards. The first
is: Why are there so few birds in these forests? I understand that
Madagascar, however large, is an isolated island, and thus that the
diversity of organisms, among them birds, will be lower here than on
the continents (Our list closed below 200 species, mine on 186). And I
also understand that much of nature on the island is sadly ruined so
that the wonderful nature areas we visit are just the remnants of a
once much larger and continuous forest. But those remnants are in many
cases (e.g. the Masoala peninsula) still very large indeed. And still
there are few birds there, not few species, but few individuals. I can
not understand why this should be the case. There must be plenty of
food both for frugivores and insectivores; in fact I was struck by the
fact that all leaves more than one month old looked partly or
completely 'moth-eaten', although it is true we saw few of the
culprits themselves---but they must be there. I don't understand this
paucity of birds in such a rich environment!
Nor do I understand why so many birds on Madagascar need to be such
extreme skulkers. From the Mesites to the Ground-Rollers, and from the
Emutails to the Oxylabes, a very large part of the birds we tried to
watch did its utmost to prevent us actually seeing them. But why?? It
can't just be to annoy birders! And it can't be , I think, because
there are so extra-many predators here they need to hide from; as far
as I can judge, there are rather fewer than more predators here than
other places Again, I do not understand this at all, and will be very
grateful for any explanation you may be able to give.
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