Birds you didn't know existed

Hey everyone! In an attempt for you to get more out of this blog, I'm going to do a weekly post about a really cool bird of the world that you (hopefully) have never heard of! This will also force me to go to the library more often. Our first bird is the Blue Vanga (Cyanolanius madagascarinus). They are common and widespread on Madagascar. These beauties are the only member of the family Vangidae that can be found outside of Madagascar; Blue Vangas also inhabit Comoro Island, and are considered subspecies. Little is known about their movements or mating behavior. They prefer deciduous dry forest on Madagascar's west coast and evergreen humid forest in the east. They can be found at all elevations and woodlands on Comoro. They are insectivorous, and commonly eat beetles and caterpillars, spiders on Comoro, and occasionally will feed on berries and foliage. They have been observed feeding in small flocks of Blue Vangas as well as larger mixed flocks of passerines (primarily other Vangas). Suprisingly, only four members of Vangidae are threatened and none have gone extinct since 1600, even though Madagascar is heavily deforested.

They are highly acrobatic, and can often be found feeding upside down!


Please let me know if this guy is still too well known and I'll try to find a more obscure bird next week : ) There's about 10,000 more to choose from.
Check the calendar for all MSU Birding Club events. Meetings held every Tuesday in room 223 (ROOM CHANGE THIS SEMESTER) of the Natural Resources building. Hope to see you there!