Tag Archives: Toliary Province

Corythornis madagascariensis ssp. dilutus Benson

Sakaraha Pygmy Kingfisher (Corythornis madagascariensis ssp. dilutus)  

The Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher, locally known as Tsakoko manga, is a 12 to 13 cm large, typical kingfisher species that inhabits large parts of Madagascar.  

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The form discussed here is known from only a single specimen which was collected around 1970 in the Zombotse Forest near the city of Sakaraha in the Sakaraha District, Toliary Province in the arid southwest of Madagascar, and which differs somewhat from the ‚common form‘, and which thus was described as a distinct subspecies.  

The Sakaraha Pygmy Kingfisher is now considered extinct, because no additional specimen could ever be located.  

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References:  

[1] Pete Morris, Frank Hawkins: Birds of Madagascar, A Photographic Guide. Yale University Press 1998 [2] C. Hilary Fry, Kathie Fry, Alan Harris: Kingfishers Bee-eaters & Rollers. A & C Black 1999  

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nominate race  

Depiction from: ‘Alfred Grandidier: Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de Madagascar. Paris: à l’Imprimerie Nationale 1836-1921’  

(public domain)

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edited: 24.03.2017