Hook vanga

Hook vanga

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The hook-billed vanga(Vangacurvirostris), also known as the hook-billed vanga, is a medium-sized member of the vanga family (Vangidae) with a body length of up to 29 cm. It is found exclusively in Madagascar.

The hooked vanga is a black and white patterned bird with a long tail for a vanga and relatively long, strong legs. The upper side of the body and the upper part of the head are black in colour, while the underside of the body, neck and throat are white. The hooked vanga owes its name to the upper half of its beak, which is curved downwards at the end.

The hooked vanga lives in a wide variety of landscapes in Madagascar. These include rainforests, dry forests, scrubland and plantations at altitudes of up to 1500 metres. There it goes in search of its food, which is also very variable. Its favourite food is large insects such as grasshoppers and beetles. However, it also preys on a wide variety of small vertebrates such as chameleons, frogs, small birds and their eggs and even mammals such as young lemurs (prosimians). When hunting, the hooked vanga often remains motionless for a very long time until its prey appears in front of it and it can catch it without much effort.

The breeding season of the hooked vanga is between October and January. It lives a strictly monogamous life and both parents are equally responsible for building the nest, breeding and rearing the young. The cup-shaped nest usually consists of dead leaves, cobwebs and moss and is built in a tree at a height of between 3 and 10 metres. The clutch always consists of 3 white, wine-red spotted eggs. The vanga chicks take around 22 days to hatch and just as long to fledge.

The population of the hooked vanga is currently not endangered. It colonises almost the whole of Madagascar and is not as strongly affected by the impending deforestation on the island as other birds.