Madeira, officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, the other being the Azores. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in a region known as Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometres (320 mi) west of Morocco. Madeira is geologically located on the African Tectonic Plate, though the archipelago is culturally, economically and politically European. Its population was 251,060 in 2021. The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the main island's south coast.
Zino's petrel or the freira, is a species of small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, endemic to the island of Madeira. This long-winged petrel has a grey back and wings, with a dark "W" marking across the wings, and a grey upper tail. The undersides of the wings are blackish apart from a triangle of white at the front edge near the body, and the belly is white with grey flanks. It is very similar in appearance to the slightly larger Fea's petrel, and separating these two Macaronesian species at sea is very challenging. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the soft-plumaged petrel, P. mollis, but they are not closely related, and Zino's was raised to the status of a species because of differences in morphology, calls, breeding behaviour and mitochondrial DNA. It is Europe's most endangered seabird, with breeding areas restricted to a few ledges high in the central mountains of Madeira.
The Savage Islands or Selvagens Islands are a small Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, 280 kilometres (175 mi) south of Madeira, and 165 kilometres (105 mi) north of the Canary Islands. The archipelago includes two major islands, Selvagem Grande and Selvagem Pequena, each surrounded by a cluster of islets and reefs, with the total area of 2.73 km2 (1.05 sq mi). The archipelago is administered as part of the Portuguese municipality of Funchal, belongs to the Madeiran civil parish of Sé, and is the southernmost point of Portugal.
Scops owls are typical owls in family Strigidae belonging to the genus Otus and are restricted to the Old World. Otus is the largest genus of owls with 58 species. Scops owls are colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighter underside and/or face, which helps to camouflage them against the bark of trees. Some are polymorphic, occurring in a greyish- and a reddish-brown morph. They are small and agile, with both sexes being compact in size and shape. Female scops owls are usually larger than males.
The Philippine scops owl is a common owl, endemic to the Philippines, belonging to the family of the typical owls Strigidae. Other common names include "Otus Whitehead", "Whitehead scops owl" and "Luzon lowland scops owl". Everett's scops owl and Negros scops owls were formerly considered conspecific but are now classified as subspecies of Otus megalotis.
Günther Edmund Maul was a German ichthyologist and taxidermist in Portugal. Maul came to Madeira in December 1930 to work as taxidermist at Museu Municipal do Funchal, which opened to the public in 1933. He was appointed director for the museum in 1940, a post that he held to his retirement in 1979. He, however, continued his research until shortly before his death. He started two journals and opened the museum's aquarium to the public in 1959. He also participated in several expeditions including with the French bathyscaphe Archimède in 1966 and organised the first multidisciplinary expedition to the Salvage Islands in 1963. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Madeira in 1995.
The Rodrigues rail, also known as Leguat's gelinote or Leguat's rail, is an extinct species of the rail family that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is generally kept in its own genus, Erythromachus, but has sometimes been assigned to the genus Aphanapteryx along with its close relative the red rail of Mauritius; their relationship with other rails is unclear. The Rodrigues rail was about 35 cm (14 in) long and weighed at least 500 g (18 oz). It was described as having grey plumage, a red beak, red legs, and a naked red patch around the eye. The beak was long and curved downwards. It was flightless and fed on tortoise eggs. It was described as being attracted to red objects, which humans exploited while hunting it.
The Mauritius sheldgoose, also known as the Mauritius shelduck, is an extinct species of sheldgoose that was endemic to the island of Mauritius. While geese were mentioned by visitors to Mauritius in the 17th century, few details were provided by these accounts. In 1893, a carpometacarpus wing-bone and a pelvis from the Mare aux Songes swamp were used to name a new species of comb duck, Sarcidiornis mauritianus. These bones were connected to the contemporary accounts of geese and later determined to belong to a species related to the Egyptian goose, and placed in the sheldgoose genus Alopochen. The Mauritius and Réunion sheldgoose may have descended from Egyptian geese that colonised the Mascarene islands.
The Rodrigues scops owl, also known as Rodrigues owl, Rodrigues lizard owl, Leguat's owl, or Rodrigues little owl, was a small owl. It lived on the Mascarene island of Rodrigues, but it is nowadays extinct. It is part of the three Mascarene owls, formerly classified in the genus Mascarenotus, although they are now classified in the genus Otus. Like many of the Mascarene land-birds, the genus was a distinct relative to South-East Asian taxa, in this case apparently being a descendant of the direct ancestor of the Oriental scops owl. This insular scops owl had evolved gigantism, becoming twice as large and four times heavier than its continental ancestor.
The Réunion scops owl, also known as the Réunion owl or Réunion lizard owl, was a small owl that occurred on the Mascarene island of Réunion, but became extinct before any living birds were described; it is only known from subfossil bones. One of the three Mascarene owls, it was formerly classified in the genus Mascarenotus, and most likely was similar to a long-eared owl in size and appearance, but with nearly naked legs. However, according to recent studies, it and its relatives belong to the genus Otus, and is likely descended from the Otus sunia lineage.
The extinct Mauritius scops owl, also known as Mauritius owl, Mauritius lizard owl, Commerson's owl, Sauzier's owl, or Newton's owl, was endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius. It is known from a collection of subfossil bones from the Mare aux Songes swamp, a detailed sketch made by de Jossigny in 1770, a no less detailed description by Desjardins of a bird shot in 1836, and a number of brief reports about owls, the first being those of Van Westzanen in 1602 and Matelief in 1606.
The Mantanani scops owl, is a small owl in the scops-owl genus Otus found on small islands between Borneo and the Philippines. It is listed by the IUCN as "near threatened" because its range is limited with its population being fragmented on several different islands, and its forest habitat is being degraded by ongoing logging and clearance.
Screech owls are typical owls (Strigidae) belonging to the genus Megascops with 23 living species. For most of the 20th century, this genus was merged with the Old World scops owls in Otus, but nowadays it is again considered separately based on a range of behavioral, biogeographical, morphological, and DNA sequence data.
The Mascarene grey parakeet or Thirioux's grey parrot, is an extinct species of parrot which was endemic to the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the western Indian Ocean. It has been classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, along with other parrots from the Islands.
The Socotra scops owl is a small owl endemic to the island of Socotra, Yemen.
The São Miguel scops owl is a small extinct owl that once inhabited the island of São Miguel, in the Macaronesian archipelago of the Azores, in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its scientific specific name honours the 16th-century Azorean historian Gaspar Frutuoso.
The year 2013 in birding and ornithology.
The Madeira evergreen forests is a laurissilva ecoregion of southwestern Europe. It covers the archipelago of Madeira and some nearby islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Laurel forest, known as laurissilva, once covered the islands. Over centuries the laurel forests were mostly cleared. Madeira's remaining forests are now protected.
