Madagascar Blue Vanga Cyanolanius madagascarinus Scientific name definitions

The stunningly beautiful Madagascar Blue Vanga is just one superb example of an overall spectacular avian radiation unique to the Malagasy region. It occurs in forested areas below 1,600 m across much of Madagascar, although it is absent from the country’s central plateau and the far south and southwest. Despite the species’ striking plumage and general abundance, very few natural history data are available, with just one nest having been well described. For most of the 20th century, additional populations of Cyanolanius on two islands in the Comoros, Mohéli and Grand Comoro, were considered part of the same species as those in Madagascar. Taxonomists currently dispute how best to deal with the different named populations, some continuing to treat all three as a single species, whilst others now prefer to regard the Comoros birds as representing a different (albeit closely related) species, which arrangement is followed here.