BIRDING MADAGASCAR WITH ROCKJUMPERS
Last month I had the opportunity to flee the rather dreary and dark autumn
months in Tromsø and take part in a Madagascar trip with the S.African company
Rockjumpers, and with Glen Valentine and Rainer Summers as able leaders. I had
in many years dreamt of visiting Madagascar, as the island is a show-piece of
evolution, the subject I have lectured about for many years. Nor did the
experience disappoint, in spite of the fact that our group laboured with some
people-trouble, which now and then distracted quite heavily from the enjoyment
of this very special island.
It is not my intention here to give a report of our trip and all we saw; I
suppose most Madagascar trips see basically the same things, even though ours
was among the more successful ones. (I have an annotated bird list, which I can
send to people who are interested). What I want to do here, is reflect on the
differences between this trip and most others I have taken part in (not all
that many, I found out when I compared with my much-traveled companions on this
trip), and the reasons why this may be the case. I also have to add, that I go
on these specialized and quite expensive trips mainly for two reasons: I get to
the best places without having to find out myself where these are, and
competent and always helpful leaders (and companions) help me to spot and watch
the birds, which I often am unable to find myself---my eyes are definitely
substandard and now my ears are slowly failing me too, so I get to see much
more, and that much better, when on an organized trip.
During most of my birding experiences, including the pre-trip to the Kruger
Park this time, one gets to a good spot and there watches all the birds that
are there, concentrating on the rarer ones. Kruger is a place where one most
places is confined to the car, which makes for a skewed picture: one sees far
more large birds than small ones and probably misses the real skulkers
altogether. There are usually a few stake-outs, where rare birds are known to
hang out (have their territory, maybe), but in most cases one sees a lot of
birds and chooses which ones to concentrate on. Not so most places in
Madagascar! Oh there are places that offer the normal sort of birding here too;
wetlands of course, but also e.g. the 'campsite' at Ampijoroa, where lots of
birds can be seen almost from the breakfast table. But most places the birding
is entirely different, and this picture is further strengthened by the fact
that so much nature on Madagascar has been largely ruined, so that there is
comparatively little to see during the often long bus drives from place to
place. (Few birds, that is; of course the landscapes and peoples are a constant
source of interest also during these long hauls).
But birding many places , and especially in the rainforest, consists of getting
up very early, meeting op with the local guide (and these guides are nearly all
extremely pleasant as well as very competent), and marching of in single file
along the narrow and slippery paths, with the local guides very much in charge.
So we walk for 20 minutes or half an hour, during which time there is scarcely
a bird to be heard most of the time (maybe besides the tjoeke tjoeke tjoeke of
the Common Newtonia, which lives up to its name); of course the forest itself
is most impressive, but one can not really see it well, as one (at least I)
constantly need to look down in order not to slip or catch one's foot in a
liana. After that time the guide stops, says 'you wait here', and often asks
the leader to play the tape of one special bird, which he (or she, there were
also female guides) knows to have its territory here. Often there is no
reaction, and we walk on after a while, but often also the guide hears the bird
some distance away, after which he and his helpers slink off into the forest,
and try to coax the bird gently in the direction of the birders, who stand and
wait either on the path, or away from the path in the forest itself. If we are
lucky, we get to see the bird, and then we march on for a while, until the next
bird to be tried out. As I said, the guides are very very good and this enables
us to see many birds we never would have found on our own (And in fact it is
not permitted to enter the rainforest without a local guide), but it is a quite
different sort of birding from what I have experienced before, and it took some
while for me to get accustomed to it.
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.
Madagascar was an utterly fascinating place to visit, and I am very glad I got
the opportunity. I am also very grateful to Rockjumpers for organizing this so
well, to the leaders for always trying to get everyone to see every skulking
bird in the end, and to my companions for their patience with somebody, who
never spotted a bird himself, but always had to rely on the others to find the
birds first. And no, I have no financial interest in Rockjumpers at all, I'm
just a content customer.
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø,
Norway
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