DAY9 Madagascar

Road trip🇲🇬

Knop-billed duck

18/05/2025

Antananarivo - International flight

Trip plan: You will have the possibility to visit the capital in the morning : visit of Tsarasaotra birding park - Transfer to the airport and fly back to your country [Departure time at 02 :50 PM] - Say goodbye at the airport.

Antananarivo

Antananarivo is the capital city of Madagascar, in the island’s Central Highlands. Overlooking the city, the Rova of Antananarivo palace complex was the center of the Merina kingdom from the 17th century. It features wooden houses and royal tombs. The pink baroque Andafiavaratra Palace sits in the nearby Haute Ville neighborhood. In the city center, heart-shaped Lake Anosy is ringed by jacaranda trees.

Royal chapel

Antananarivo was originally the site of a town called Analamanga, meaning "Blue Forest" in the Central Highlands dialect of the Malagasy language. Analamanga was established by a community of Vazimba, the island's first occupants. Merina King Andrianjaka, who migrated to the region from the southeast coast, seized the location as the site of his capital city. According to oral history, he deployed a garrison of 1,000 soldiers to successfully capture and guard the site.The hill and its city retained the name Analamanga until the reign of King Andriamasinavalona, who renamed it Antananarivo ("City of the Thousand") in honor of Andrianjaka's soldiers.

Andafiavaratra Palace

Major historic landmarks and attractions in the city include the reconstructed royal palaces and the Andafiavaratra Palace, the tomb of Rainiharo, Tsimbazaza Zoo, Mahamasina Stadium, Lake Anosy, four 19th-century martyr churches, and the Museum of Art and Archaeology.

The colonial French Residency serves today as a presidential office and has been renamed the Ambohitsorohitra Palace.

Radama's successor Ranavalona I invited a shipwrecked craftsman named Jean Laborde to construct the tomb of Prime Minister Rainiharo, and Manjakamiadana (built 1839–1841), the largest palace at the Rova. Laborde also produced a wide range of industrial products at factories in the highland village Mantasoa and a foundry in the Antananarivo neighborhood of Isoraka.Ranavalona oversaw improvements to the city's infrastructure,

including the construction of the city's two largest staircases at Antaninarenina and Ambondrona, which connect la ville moyenne ("the middle town") to the central marketplace at Analakely. In 1867, following a series of fires in the capital, Queen Ranavalona II issued a royal decree that permitted the use of stone and brick construction in buildings other than tombs.LMS missionaries' first brick house was built in 1869; it bore a blend of English, Creole, and Malagasy design and served as a model for a new style of house that rapidly spread throughout the capital and across the highlands. Termed the trano gasy("Malagasy house"), it is typically a two-story, brick building with four columns on the front that support a wooden veranda. In the latter third of the 19th century, these houses quickly replaced most of the traditional wooden houses of the city's aristocratic class.The growing number of Christians in Imerina prompted the construction of stone churches throughout the highlands, as well as four memorial churches on key sites of martyrdom among early Malagasy Christians under the reign of Ranavalona I.

Tsarasaotra Park is a private park open to the public, located north of the city of Antananarivo, Madagascar. It is also called "Bird Park". Wetland with remarkable biodiversity, this is the first private Ramsar site on the island

Tsarasaotra Park is the ideal starting point for your birdwatching trip to Madagascar.

On our birdwatching trips, we had to visit Tsarasaotra. Although this park is not renowned for birdwatching, it is a wonderful place to explore, especially given its location not far from the town centre.
Imagine a charming lake surrounded by eucalyptus, camphor, rushes and papyrus, with a small green island in the middle. It’s not just a body of water – it’s a haven for a variety of birds, especially herons and ducks.
During the hunting season, Tsarasaotra is crucial to the survival of 14 species and subspecies of waterbirds endemic to Madagascar.
On Madagascar’s high plateaux, this is the only place where you can find the endangered Madagascar Pond Heron and other vulnerable species such as the Meller’s Duck. And that’s not all! In addition to its ecological wealth, the park contains historical remains that add to its appeal.
Unfortunately, Lake Tsarasaotra is facing a number of environmental challenges, including eutrophication and erosion.

Night heron

The night herons are medium-sized herons, 58–65 cm, in the genera Nycticorax, Nyctanassa, and Gorsachius. The genus name Nycticorax derives from the Greek for "night raven" and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of birds, and the croaking crow-like, almost like a barking sound, call of the best known species, the black-crowned night heron.

White-faced whistling duck

The white-faced whistling duck has a long grey bill, a long head, and longish legs. It has a black neck and head, and a distinctive white face that gives it its name, though the amount of white color visible has regional variations among the species. For example, the white-faced whistling ducks with more black coloration are commonly found in western Africa where rainfall supersedes the dry season. The back and wings are dark brown to black, and the underparts are black with a fine white barring on the flanks. The neck is chestnut. Males and females have similar plumage. Juveniles are similar in color to adults but have a much less contrasted head pattern.

Red-billed teal

The red-billed teal or red-billed duck (Anas erythrorhyncha) is a dabbling duckwhich is an abundant resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa typically south of 10° S. This duck is not migratory, but will fly great distances to find suitable waters. It is highly gregarious outside the breeding season and forms large flocks.

Fulvous whistling duck

The fulvous whistling duck or fulvous tree duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) is a species of whistling duck that breeds across the world's tropical regions in much of Mexico and South America, the West Indies, the southern United States, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent. It has plumage that is mainly reddish brown, long legs and a long grey bill, and shows a distinctive white band across its black tail in flight. Like other members of its ancient lineage, it has a whistling call which is given in flight or on the ground. Its preferred habitat consists of wetlands with plentiful vegetation, including shallow lakes and paddy fields. The nest, built from plant material and unlined, is placed among dense vegetation or in a tree hole. The typical clutch is around ten whitish eggs. The breeding adults, which pair for life, take turns to incubate, and the eggs hatch in 24–29 days. The downy grey ducklings leave the nest within a day or so of hatching, but the parents continue to protect them until they fledgearound nine weeks later.

Knob-billed duck

The knob-billed duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) or African comb duck is a type of duck found along the tropical/sub-tropical wetlands and waterways of Sub-Saharan Africa and the island of Madagascar, as well as most of South Asia and mainland Indochina.

White-faced whistling duck

The white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata) is a whistling duck that breeds in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America. This species is gregarious, and at favoured sites, the flocks of a thousand or more birds arriving at dawn are an impressive sight. As the name implies, these are noisy birds with a clear three-note whistling call.

Meller's duck

Meller's duck (Anas melleri) is a species of the dabbling duck genus Anas. It is endemic to eastern Madagascar. Although a population was established on Mauritiusin the mid-18th century, this is on the verge of extinction due to habitat loss and competition by feral domestic ducks.The species name of this species is after the botanist Charles James Meller, and its generic name is from the Latin for "duck".

Malagasy kingfisher

The Malagasy kingfisher or Madagascar kingfisher (Corythornis vintsioides) is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is found in Madagascar, Mayotte and the Comoros. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.

Black heron

The black heron (Egretta ardesiaca), also known as the black egret, is an African heron. It uses its wings to form a canopy when fishing.

The black heron occurs patchily through Sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and Sudan to South Africa, but is found mainly on the eastern half of the continent and in Madagascar.^[3] It has also been observed in Greece and Italy.

It prefers shallow open waters, such as the edges of freshwater lakes and ponds. It may also be found in marshes, river edges, rice fields, and seasonally flooded grasslands. In coastalareas, it may be found feeding along tidal rivers and creeks, in alkaline lakes, and tidal flats.

Madagascar is a paradise for both butterflies and dragonflies, with a high diversity of species, many of which are endemic to the island. Madagascar is home to over 3,000 butterfly species, including the unique Madagascar Diadem (Hypolimnas dexithea) and the Rainbow Butterfly (Chrysiridia rhipheus). For dragonflies and damselflies, there are over 190 species in Madagascar, with about 180 of them being endemic, according to a book on the subject.

Strabena

Female Royal Blue Pansy (Junonia rhadama)

Male Royal Blue Pansy (Junonia rhadama)

**A male Dark Blue Pansy (Junonia oenone)**

Malagasy Chocolate Pansy, Junonia goudotii

Southern Banded Groundling, Brachythemis leucosticta (Burmeister, 1839)

Males of Pseudagrion punctum (Rambur, 1842)

The widespread Ochre Spreadwing, Lestes ochraceus Selys, 1862

A male Proplatycnemis malgassica (Schmidt, 1951).

Malagasy Giant chameleon

Chameleon molting, also known as shedding, is a normal part of their lives as they grow and their skin renews. Young chameleons shed more frequently than adults, but all chameleons shed periodically. The process can involve the chameleon becoming dull, losing appetite, rubbing against cage décor, and potentially puffing out their eyes.

Black herons employ a unique hunting technique called "canopy feeding" where they use their wings to create shade, attracting fish. This method involves spreading their wings like an umbrella over the water, creating a dark patch that fish perceive as a safe hiding spot. Once fish gather beneath the "canopy," the heron strikes quickly, catching them with its sharp beak.

A Look Back at the Red List of Trees of Madagascar

Madagascar's history is a captivating mix of diverse influences, from its early settlers from Borneo and Indonesia to later interactions with European powers. The island's unique biodiversity, including its endemic tree species, faces significant conservation challenges. Recent efforts are focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, recognizing the need for resilience in the face of climate change and other shocks.