| Comoros blue vanga | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Vangidae |
| Genus: | Cyanolanius |
| Species: | C. comorensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Cyanolanius comorensis (Shelley, 1894) | |
The Comoros blue vanga or Comoro blue vanga (Cyanolanius comorensis) is a bird species in the family Vangidae. It is found in the Comoros, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. [1]
Two subspecies are recognised: [2]
It has a ultramarine blue beak with a black tip in males and a dark brown tip in females. The iris is pale blue in adults, while the legs and feet are black or dark slate in colour. [3]
The species is found on the islands of Grand Comore and Mohéli in the Comoros Islands.
It inhabits a variety of woodland on the Comoro Islands. It is known to inhabits habitats above an elevation of 300 m (980 ft) on Mohéli. On Grand Comore, it is mainly known from degraded forest patches with banana cultivation on the slopes of Mount Karthala at an elevation of 700–900 m (2,300–3,000 ft). [3]
The species on the Comoro Islands is threatened by a limited range, deforestation and habitat loss, and degradation of the habitat due to invasive plant species like Syzygium jambos , Lantana camara and Clidemia hirta . [4]
The Comoros archipelago consists of four main islands aligned along a northwest–southeast axis at the north end of the Mozambique Channel, between Mozambique and the island of Madagascar. Still widely known by their French names, the islands officially have been called by their Swahili names by the Comorian government. They are Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), Anjouan (Nzwani), and Mayotte (Mahoré). The islands' distance from each other—Grande Comore is some 200 kilometers from Mayotte, forty kilometers from Mohéli, and eighty kilometers from Anjouan—along with a lack of good harbor facilities, make transportation and communication difficult. Comoros are sunny islands.
The family Vangidae comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family owes its name. Many species in this family were previously classified elsewhere in other families. Recent molecular techniques made it possible to assign these species to Vangidae, thereby solving several taxonomic enigmas.
The Comoro Islands or Comoros form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northwest of Madagascar. The islands are politically divided between the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign country, and Mayotte, an Overseas Department of France.
Livingstone's fruit bat, also called the Comoro flying fox, is a megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is an Old World fruit bat found only in the Anjouan and Mohéli islands in the Union of the Comoros in the western Indian Ocean.
The Moheli brush warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It is found only in Comoros. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The pale-tipped inezia or pale-tipped tyrannulet is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and heavily degraded former forest.
The scaly-naped amazon, also known as the scaly-naped parrot, mercenary amazon, Tschudi's amazon, mountain parrot, or gray-naped amazon is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found along the Andes in the northern part of South America. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The Grand Comoro bulbul is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found on the Comoro Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Until 2011, the Moheli bulbul was considered as a subspecies of the Grand Comoro bulbul. Alternative names for the Grand Comoro bulbul include the Comoro bulbul and Grand Comoro black bulbul.
The Comoros blue pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Comoros and the coralline Seychelles. It is rated as a species of near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species.
The mountain kingfisher is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae in the family Alcedinidae. Adult males are 21–24 cm (8.3–9.4 in) long, and have a rufous head and underparts, greenish-blue upperparts, a dark blue tail, and black flight feathers. They also have dark neck patches and loral patches. Females have dark crowns and the neck patches join at the nape. It is similar to the yellow-billed kingfisher, but can be distinguished by its larger size and a proportionally larger bill, along with a dark ridge along its culmen.
The black-chested jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae.
The Madagascar blue vanga is a bird species in the family Vangidae. It is found in Madagascar, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.
The chabert vanga, also erroneously called "Chabert's vanga", is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is monotypic within the genus Leptopterus. The chabert vanga is the smallest bird in the vanga family when compared to the white-headed vanga and the blue vanga. Their biometrics are typically 14 centimeters in length and their weight ranges from 17 to 26.5 grams.
The Anjouan sunbird is a species of bird in the sunbird family, Nectariniidae. It is endemic to Anjouan island in the Comoros, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The whiskered pitta is a rare species of bird in the family Pittidae. It is endemic to Luzon in the Philippines. This bird is the largest pitta in the country reaching 23 cm long and 116 g in mass. It has a brownish head, blue breast, and red belly. It has broad ash malar or "whiskers". Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest and tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss and trapping. It is one of the most sought after birds by birdwatchers in the Philippines.
The Fernando Po speirops, also known as the Bioko speirops, is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea.
The Malagasy paradise flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in Comoros, Madagascar, and Mayotte. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.
The Comoros thrush is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in the Comoros Islands in the south western Indian Ocean.
The Comoros forests is a terrestrial ecoregion which covers the Comoro Islands, which lie in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and East Africa. These include four main islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli, of the Union of the Comoros, and Mayotte, a department and region of France.
The Moheli bulbul is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mohéli. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Until 2011, it was classified as a subspecies of the Grand Comoro bulbul. It is also considered a sister species to the Seychelles bulbul.
