Birds
About 280 species of bird have been recorded on Madagascar and about 200 of these breed. Although these are relatively low numbers for a large tropical island, there is a high degree of endemism. Over 100 bird species are endemic and 49 of these are restricted-range endemics with a range of less than 50,000 km2. There are five bird families unique to Madagascar or shared only with the Comoro Islands: the mesites, the ground-rollers, the cuckoo-roller, the asities and the vangas. In addition, recent studies suggest that several songbirds should be grouped together in a new endemic family: the Malagasy warblers.
Elephant Birds (Aepyornis maximus): These enormous birds were over 3 meters tall and half a tonne in weight. They are thought to have become extinct within the last millennium, as a result of human activity, like the dodo on the neighbouring island of Mauritius.
Read more about this topic: Fauna Of Madagascar
Famous quotes containing the word birds:
“We cannot do without it, and yet we disgrace and vilify the same. It may be compared to a cage, the birds without despair to get in, and those within despair to get out.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 8:20.
“Because humans are not alone in exhibiting such behavior—bees stockpile royal jelly, birds feather their nests, mice shred paper—it’s possible that a pregnant woman who scrubs her house from floor to ceiling [just before her baby is born] is responding to a biological imperative . . . . Of course there are those who believe that . . . the burst of energy that propels a pregnant woman to clean her house is a perfectly natural response to their mother’s impending visit.”
—Mary Arrigo (20th century)