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Extract only - complete publication at www.jncc.gov.uk/worldwaterbirds Waterbirds around the world A global overview of the conservation, management and research of the world's waterbird flyways Edited by G.C. Boere, C.A. Galbraith and D.A. Stroud Assisted by L.K. Bridge, I. Colquhoun, D.A. Scott, D.B.A. Thompson and L.G. Underhill EDINBURGH, UK: THE STATIONERY OFFICE Extract only - complete publication at www.jncc.gov.uk/worldwaterbirds © Scottish Natural Heritage 2006 First published in 2006 by The Stationery Office Limited 71 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9AZ, UK. Applications for reproduction should be made to Scottish Natural Heritage, Great Glen House, Leachkin Road, Inverness IV3 8NW, UK. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 11 497333 4 Recommended citation: Boere, G.C., Galbraith, C.A. & Stroud, D.A. (eds). 2006. Waterbirds around the world. The Stationery Office, Edinburgh, UK. 960 pp. Names used for geographical entities do not imply recognition, by the organisers of the Waterbirds around the world conference or other supporting organisations or governments, of the political status or boundaries of any particular territory. Names of territories used (and any alternatives) are included solely to help users of this publication apply information contained within this volume for waterbird conservation purposes. The views expressed in papers included within this volume do not necessarily represent views of the editors or the organisations and governments that supported the conference and this publication. Cover photography: Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus arriving at Martin Mere, England. Photo: Paul Marshall. (www.paulmarshallphotography.com) Copyright of all photographs used in this publication resides with the named photographers. Waterbirds around the world Waterbirds of Baie de Baly, Madagascar Rivo Rabarisoa1, Odon Rakotonomenjanahary2 & Julien Ramanampamonjy3 Takatra, BP 8505 (101) Antananarivo, Madagascar. (email: [email protected]) 2&3Asity Association, BP 4096 (101) Antananarivo, Madagascar. (email: [email protected]) 1Organisation Rabarisoa, R., Rakotonomenjanahary, O. & Ramanampamonjy, J. 2006. Waterbirds of Baie de Baly, Madagascar. Waterbirds around the world. Eds. G.C. Boere, C.A. Galbraith & D.A. Stroud. The Stationery Office, Edinburgh, UK. pp. 374-375. During high tide, herons and egrets rested on mangrove trees, and waders and flamingos moved to the back of the mangroves. Two important nesting sites were noted at Sarika lake: a nesting and roosting site for the Yellow-billed Stork Mycteria ibis and Madagascar Sacred Ibis and a nesting area for Darter Anhinga rufa, Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis, Dimorphic Egret Egretta dimorpha, Great Egret Egretta alba, and Madagascar Sacred Ibis in a group of mangrove trees in the eastern part of the study area, which is also used by roosting bats Pteropus rufus. Five tern species frequent the Bay de Baly, the most important being the migratory Lesser Crested Tern Sterna bengalensis (now known also to breed in north-west Madagascar, Le Corre & Bemanaja 2004) and the Common Tern Sterna hirundo. Two species breed in Madagascar, Greater Crested Tern Sterna bergii and Caspian Tern S. caspia (Goodmand & Benstead 2004), whilst the others are migratory. These species usually frequent the bay and were abundant during January, but were infrequent or absent in July and September. Lesser Crested, Greater Crested and Caspian Terns were attracted by the shrimp farm and sometimes followed fishing boats all along the coast. The fifth species, Saunder’s Tern Sterna saundersi was always seen inside the bay near the mangrove estuary. Changes in physico-chemical parameters inside the shrimp farm force shrimps to the surface which attracts terns and other bird species like the Dimorphic Egret Egretta dimorpha and Black Kite Milvus migrans. Out of the 19 migratory species recorded, 16 were Palaearctic waders, but numbers were very low compared with those visiting mainland African wetlands. Only one species, the Crab Plover Dromas ardeola, occurred in numbers over their 1% population threshold. The Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva is considered as a vagrant species in Madagascar (Goodman & Benstead 2004) but was seen regularly in low numbers, two to six individuals, in the coastal area of Baie de Baly, usually associated with other waders such as the Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii and the Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia. Numbers of migratory waders are low in July and September, but much higher in January. Despite four years of regular monitoring, it is likely that not all waterbirds using the area have been recorded. For example, the Madagascar Teal Anas bernieri, a globally threatened and endemic species to Madagascar, was recorded in the mangroves in 1999 (Safford 1993), but has not been seen during monitoring counts. From the waterbird monitoring, the Baie de Baly has been identified as qualifying as a wetland of international importance since it supports more than 1% of the populations of 12 waterbird species (Wetlands International 2002). Of these, five species exceeded 1% thresholds in at least half the counts: Dimorphic Egret, Madagascar Heron, Madagascar Sacred Ibis, Madagascar Openbill Anastomus lamelligerus madagascariensis and Whitefronted Plover Charadrius marginatus. In addition, three pairs (6% of the world population) of the Madagascar Fish-eagle were The Baie de Baly, Mahajanga province, is located c. 450 km northeast of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. It is in the centre of the 57 418 ha National Park of Baie de Baly, created in December 1997, and was identified as an Important Bird Area in 1999. The establishment in 1999 of a commercial shrimp farm inside the mangrove habitat, necessitated the development of a strategy to maintain the stability of the wetland ecosystem. Since 2000, the Malagasy League for Bird Conservation in Madagascar (Asity) in collaboration with the shrimp farm society “Aquaculture des Macareigne” have made regular visits to record waterbirds as a tool for monitoring changes to the wetland ecosystem. The survey site (15˚57’ - 16˚08’S, 45˚17’ - 45˚27’E) includes 7 200 ha of mangrove, 700 ha of marshes, approximately 35–40 km of rivers and coast, and the 300 ha Sarika lake. The mangrove vegetation is dominated by Avicennia spp. and Rhizophora spp. with 220 ha of the mangrove area converted into a shrimp farm (Autrant & Rafomanana 1998). Sarika is an open permanent lake (3 200 m long) in a savannah palm area, with dry deciduous forest at its south eastern end. The lake shore is partly covered by aquatic reeds, mostly Phragmites spp., used as bird roosts. The marshes are the flood plain of the Ambolobozo river which joins the eastern part of the mangrove, and is used by the local community for growing rice. Since 2000, waterbird counts have been conducted in January, July and September. Surveys were carried out by boat, using African Waterbird Census techniques (Perennou 1991). During the 12 counts undertaken from 2000 to 2003, 54 species of waterbirds were recorded (Table 1). The most diverse families were Ardeidae (11 species), Charadriidae (nine species) and Scolopacidae (seven species). Seven were endemic Malagasy sub-species (Young et al. 1993). Nine other species are also endemic to Madagasacar, of which five are globally threatened: the Madagascar Heron Ardea humbloti, Black-banded Plover Charadrius thoracicus, Madagascar Fish-eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides, Madagascar Sacred Ibis Threskiornis bernieri and Madagascar Little Grebe Tachybaptus pelzelnii. In addition, two individuals of Madagascar Squacco Heron Ardeola idea were recorded in one count. This species breeds only in Madagascar from October to March and leaves from May to October to spend the austral winter in east and central Africa, visiting coastal and inland waters (Stevenson & Fanshawe 2002). Both Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus minor and Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber roseus were recorded during July and September visits, but rarely seen in January. Six species, including Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis, Madagascar Little Grebe, African Pygmy Goose Nettapus auritus and Hottentot Teal Anas hottentota were particularly dependent on freshwater lake ecosystems. However, the most important waterbird concentrations, mainly waders and herons, foraged on mudflats near mangroves and in the coastal zone. 374 Waterbirds around the world regularly recorded at Baie de Baly (Rabarisoa et al. 1997). Using waterbirds as a tool to monitor changes in the wetland ecosystem has led to recommendations that both the National Park and Shrimp Farm management take measures to avoid biodiversity loss. The presence of a shrimp farm in the National Park requires not only good collaboration between these two institutions but also the involvement of local authorities. Shrimp aquaculture attracts many people for employment which in the long term can threaten biodiversity without any adequate prevention. Recommendations have been made for an effective public awareness campaign concerning the importance of wetland biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources, since commercial shrimp farming can induce changes in natural resource use and livelihoods resulting in environmental deterioration through the acceleration of mangrove habitat destruction, water pollution, land encroachment, and social disruption (Barraclough & Finger-Stich 1996). Continued waterbird monitoring is recommended to provide early warning of any changes in the Baie de Baly wetlands. Table I. Maximum numbers of each waterbird species inside the Baie de Baly wetland from 2000 to 2003. Species Status Maximum number Tachybaptus ruficollis B Tachybaptus pelzelnii VU, E Phalacrocorax africanus pictillis SE Anhinga rufa vulsini SE Nycticorax nycticorax B Ardeola ralloides B Ardeola idae EN, M, B Bubulcus ibis B Butorides striatus rutenbergi SE Egretta ardesiaca B Egretta dimorpha E Egretta alba B Ardea purpurea B Ardea cinerea firasa SE Ardea humbloti EN, E Mycteria ibis B Threskiornis bernieri EN Anastomus lamelligerus madagascariensis SE Plegadis falcinellus B Platalea alba B Phoenicopterus ruber M Phonicopterus minor NT, M Dendrocygna viduata B Dendrocygna bicolor B Sarkidiornis melanotos B Nettapus auritus B Anas hottentota B Haliaeetus vociferoides CR, E Dromas ardeola M Dryolimnas cuvieri E Gallinula chloropus pyrrhorrhoa SE Himantopus himantopus B Charadrius marginatus B Charadrius thoracicus VU, E Charadrius pecuarius B Charadrius tricollaris bifrontatus SE Charadrius leschenaultii M Charadrius mongolus M Charadrius hiaticula M Pluvialis fulva V Pluvialis squatorala M Numenius phaeopus M Tringa nebularia M Xenus cinereus M Actitis hypoleucos M Arenaria interpres M Calidris ferruginea M Calidris alba M Sterna caspia B Sterna bergii B Sterna bengalensis M Sterna saundersi M Sterna hirundo M Alcedo vintsioides E 4 2 11 27 16 15 2 855 32 93 554 165 6 21 28 51 93 71 30 200 1 940 1 249 308 15 58 4 2 5 1 411 15 18 10 234 18 155 18 82 71 33 9 13 345 95 121 90 241 2 159 130 15 262 2 500 98 1 500 20 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank all counters for their active participation and the following institutions for their support: the Aquaculture des Mascareigne (Aquamas), The “Eaux & Forêts” representative at Soalala, the Commune of Soalala, the “Association National pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées” (ANGAP), Wetlands International, and the Ministère de l’Environnement à Madagascar. REFERENCES Autrant, M. & Rafomanana, G. 1998. Etude de Schema d’Amenagement de l’aquaculture de crevette à Madagascar. Consortium OSIMO, FTM, PHO & ORSTOM. Barraclough, S. & Finger-Stich, A. 1996. Some ecological and social implications of commercial shrimp farming. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. UNRISD, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. BirdLife International. 2004. Threatened birds of the world 2004. Species factsheet for globally threatened birds. BirdLife International, Cambridge. Goodman, S. & Benstead, J. 2003. The Natural History of Madagascar. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London. Le Corre & Bemanaja. 2004. Status and conservation of seabirds at Madagascar. Unpublished poster. Perennou, C. 1991. African Waterfowl Census: counting waterbirds. IWRB, Slimbridge, UK. Rabarisoa, R., Watson, R.T.,Thorstom, R. & Berkelman, J. 1997. Status of the Madagascar Fish Eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides in 1995. Ostrich 68(1):12 Safford, R. J. 1993. The Madagascar Teal Anas bernieri: a preliminary survey from Antsalova to Morondava. Dodo 29: 95-102. Stevenson, T. & Fanshawe, J. 2002. Field guide to the birds of Africa, Eastern Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda & Burundi. T. & A.D. Poyser Ltd, London. Wetlands International. 2002. Waterbird Population Estimates – Third edition. Wetlands International Global series No. 12, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Young, H.G., Safford, R., Green, A., Ravonjiarisoa, P. & Rabarisoa, R. 1993. Survey and capture of the Madagascar Teal Anas bernieri at lac Bemamba Madagascar July – August 1993. Dodo 29: 77-94. Status is E: endemic species; SE: endemic sub-species; VU: Vulnerable; CR: Critically Endangered; EN: Endangered; NT: Near Threatened; M: migratory; B: breeding. BirdLife International 2004, Goodman & Benstead 2003. 375