Madagascar Ramsar wetland
Lake Alaotra
35 bird species recorded; the most in November.
Arnaud DG · CC BY-SA 2.0
This month here
4 species in January.1 species in February.1 species in March.20 species in April.1 species in May.0 species in June.1 species in July.5 species in August.4 species in September.5 species in October.32 species in November.4 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
35 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 35Speciesrecorded more than once
- 6Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 4ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 132Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 750 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 2Raptors
- 1Waders
- 2Gulls & seabirds
- 4Ducks & geese
- 10Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Storks & cranes
- 7Songbirds
- 8Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 35 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors2 species
- Madagascar KestrelFalco newtoni
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
Waders1 species
- Madagascan SnipeGallinago macrodactylaVU
Gulls & seabirds2 species
- Grey-headed GullChroicocephalus cirrocephalus
- Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
Ducks & geese4 species
- Madagascar PochardAythya innotataCR
- Knob-billed DuckSarkidiornis melanotos
- White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduata
- Blue-billed TealSpatula hottentota
Herons, ibises & grebes10 species
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Squacco HeronArdeola ralloides
- Purple heronArdea purpurea
- Striated HeronButorides striata
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Black HeronEgretta ardesiaca
- Humblot's HeronArdea humbloti
Storks & cranes1 species
- Openbill StorkAnastomus lamelligerus
Songbirds7 species
- Madagascar Brush-warblerNesillas typica
- Madagascan CisticolaCisticola cherina
- Pied CrowCorvus albus
- Common MynaAcridotheres tristis
- Lemuresthes nanaLemuresthes nana
- Madagascar Red FodyFoudia madagascariensis
- Madagascar Swamp-warblerAcrocephalus newtoni
Other birds8 species
- Red-knobbed CootFulica cristata
- Madagascar Water RailRallus madagascariensisVU
- Western SwamphenPorphyrio porphyrio
- White-breasted mesiteMesitornis variegatusVU
- Olive Bee-eaterMerops superciliosus
- Allen's GallinulePorphyrio alleni
- Madagascar Turtle-DoveNesoenas picturatus
- Madagascar KingfisherCorythornis vintsioides
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in November.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan26°/19°392 mm
- Feb26°/19°321 mm
- Mar25°/18°289 mm
- Apr24°/17°129 mm
- May22°/16°97 mm
- Jun20°/14°83 mm
- Jul19°/13°87 mm
- Aug20°/13°58 mm
- Sep21°/13°47 mm
- Oct24°/15°67 mm
- Nov25°/16°119 mm
- Dec26°/18°272 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Lake Alaotra.
Lake in Madagascar
Lake Alaotra is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Madagascar, 750 m above the sea.
35 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 132 open records.
The most recorded are the Great White Egret, the Grey Heron and the Red-knobbed Coot.
3 species come for the summer, 2 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
4 are threatened worldwide, including Madagascar Water Rail, Madagascar Pochard and White-breasted mesite.
The most species are recorded in November.
Get there and watch
- Imerimandrosonearest town · 12 km in a straight line
- Toamasina Ambalamanasy Airport (TMM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 117 km in a straight lineCar hire at TNR airport (Antananarivo)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Lake Alaotra.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas1 mountains within 25 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Lake Alaotra
Madagascar
- 41Birdyas Score
- 35Species
- 6Migrants
- 4Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q575679) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 132 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit