The red-shouldered vanga (''Calicalicus rufocarpalis'') is a member of the

vanga The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family o ...

family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to south-west

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. This species is notable for being the last species viewed by internationally renowned bird watcher

Phoebe Snetsinger Phoebe Snetsinger (née Burnett; June 9, 1931 – November 23, 1999) was an American birder famous for having seen and documented birds of 8,398 different species, more than anyone else in history at the time, and was the first person to see more ...

before her 1999 death in Madagascar.

Description

Like many of the vangas, this species is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

; the male is the more colorful of the two. He has a pale gray crown, nape and mantle, with white on the ear coverts and forehead. Other than a black bib, which extends from the beak partway down the breast and up the sides of his neck, his underparts are principally whitish, tinged with pink on the breast and flanks. His

flight feather Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...

s are brown, his

wing covert A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

s are brick-red, and his tail is a pale brick-red. His beak is black, his irides are yellow, and his legs and feet are pinkish-gray.

Conservation and threats

The species has been rated as Vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

, based on its low population numbers and very small range.

References

red-shouldered vanga red-shouldered vanga {{Vangidae-stub