. Bonner zoologische Monographien. Zoology. 325 Bird communities on the Comoro islands Michel L o u e 11 e Abstract: Migrant birds include seabirds, Palaearctic waders, exceptional species (Dromas arc/cola from Arabia and Falco eleonorae from the Mediterranean) and occasional vagrants migrating from Africa to Madagascar. Waterbirds are remarkably scarce. Resident terrestrial birds are classified in relation to their presumed period of arrival: 9 (1 I?) "old" endemic- species (non-Malagasy origin); 4 "new" endemic species (Malagasy origin) and 22 species represented by endem
. Bonner zoologische Monographien. Zoology. 325 Bird communities on the Comoro islands Michel L o u e 11 e Abstract: Migrant birds include seabirds, Palaearctic waders, exceptional species (Dromas arc/cola from Arabia and Falco eleonorae from the Mediterranean) and occasional vagrants migrating from Africa to Madagascar. Waterbirds are remarkably scarce. Resident terrestrial birds are classified in relation to their presumed period of arrival: 9 (1 I?) "old" endemic- species (non-Malagasy origin); 4 "new" endemic species (Malagasy origin) and 22 species represented by endemic subspecies; 1 7 non-endemic species, which probably arrived in recent times or still have gene flow. Ngazidja, highest, largest and most isolated island, is a centre of speciation. Smaller and lower Mwali is its satellite. Mayotte is another speciation centre. Ndzuani is poor in endemics. Using standardized point-transect counts, a general relationship between degree of endemism in the birds and preference for forest - presumably the original vegetation on much of the archipelago - was found, with some aberrations. The adaptation of endemics to degraded habitat is variable among species and among islands. This is also true for the adaptation of the non-endemic species to forest. Key words: birds, Comoros, bird communities, endemism, habitat selection 40° 50" 100 km. Fig. I: Position of Comoro islands in the western Indian Ocean, with the 200 m line to show possible extent of land area after a sea level drop. Present-day land mass in black. Rheinwald, G., ed.: Isolated Vertebrate Communities in the Tropics Proc. 4th Int. Symp., Bonn Bonn. zool. Monogr. 46, 2000. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Bonn, Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig
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