The threatened birds of Ambatovaky Special Reserve, Madagascar

Abstract

Ambatovaky Special Reserve was created in 1956 and is the largest lowland rainforest reserve in Madagascar, comprising more than half of the total area of this habitat represented in the country's protected area system, yet there are no measures in place actively to protect it, due to its remoteness and a lack of funds. This study in February-March 1990, part of the first faunal survey to be undertaken in the reserve, found seven threatened, five near-threatened and two other localized bird species. In itself this would make the reserve an important site for conservation. However, three of the finds are of particular note: Ambatovaky is one of only two known sites for the Red-tailed Newtonia Newtonia fanovanae which was rediscovered in 1989; a dead Madagascar Serpent-eagle Eutriorchis astur was found - the first specimen since 1930 of one of the world's rarest raptors; and the White-breasted Mesite Mesitornis variegata was discovered in rainforest where Brown Mesite M. unicolor was also present, this being the only known case of sympatry within the endemic Mesitornithidae family. Shifting cultivation threatens the habitat of all these species and an integrated plan for conservation and sustainable development for the local people is urgently needed. © 1992, Birdlife International. All rights reserved.