Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
much so that it frequently attracts onlookers: a whole crowd of parrots can turn up to
watch. Sometimes things get a bit out of hand and some of her other boyfriends get a
bit frisky and try jumping on top of the copulating pair, sometimes managing to dis-
turb them and have a go themselves. However, it's all down to the female's choice as
she has the beak and claws to control her diminutive boyfriends.
Aftersuchpersistentpromiscuity,whenitcomestofeedthechicksyoucanimagine
the confusion. The males have normally found several girlfriends for themselves as
well, and these avian harems often mean it's not clear which chicks belong to which
dad. It's the males that do all the work bringing in the food and you can see the lads
vexing over which of their girlfriends to feed next. Once again the females don't just
sit back and see what happens; they sing long, complex songs to get attention. Each
female has her own unique song, so November in the forests of Madagascar is rather
like a huge singing contest where females with chicks compete to be the best singer.
And it works; females singing longer or more complex songs attract more males and
get more food. The males benefit from feeding the best singing girlfriends because
these are also the strongest birds with the most chicks in the nest.
Greater vasa parrots have the most complex sex life of any parrot so far studied.
Scientists think most others are monogamous - real bastions of chastity in the avian
world.Sovasashavebrokenalltherulesandarepillarsofpromiscuityinstead.That's
evolution in isolation for you. Like so much of Madagascar's wildlife, if you leave
some normal, decent-living animals by themselves in the middle of the Indian Ocean
for a few dozen million years they are bound to come up with something bizarre.
Jonathan Ekstrom did his PhD research on the greater vasa parrot. He now runs The
Biodiversity Consultancy in London
(
www.thebiodiversityconsultancy.com
).
NOSY BOENY (NOSY ANTSOHERIBORY)
This is a small island, about a kilometre
long, in Boina Bay, with some fascinating Antalaotra ruins dating from the 16th century.
The ruins include several cemeteries, houses and mosques. The island is sacred to the local
people so camping is prohibited - but day visits are allowed.
To reach the island, start from Katsepy and continue by road to the village of Boeny-
Ampasy on the west side of the bay, where there are bungalows. A 1½-hour boat journey
brings you to Nosy Boeny.
MAHAVAVY-KINKONY WETLAND COMPLEX
With backing from the NGO
BirdLife International (
www.birdlife.org
) and Asity (
www.asitymadagascar.org
)
this wet-
land area received protected status in 2007. The two dozen interconnected lakes, river,
delta,bays,marshland,mangroves,forest,savannaandcavesincludedinthe268,236hare-
serve form a haven for birders and other wildlife enthusiasts.
