Madagascar Ramsar wetland
Lake Tsimanampetsotsa
93 bird species recorded; the most from October to November.
Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium · CC BY 2.0
This month here
43 species in January.44 species in February.59 species in March.51 species in April.50 species in May.28 species in June.33 species in July.66 species in August.47 species in September.74 species in October.73 species in November.57 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.
NT
NT
VU
NTNT
VUNTNT
VU
NTNT
NT
NT
NTNTNTNT
NTNTNT
NT- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
93 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).
- 93Speciesrecorded more than once
- 27Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 4ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 3,329Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 8Raptors
- 3Owls
- 11Waders
- 3Gulls & seabirds
- 2Ducks & geese
- 4Herons, ibises & grebes
- 2Flamingos
- 32Songbirds
- 28Other 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 93 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Madagascar KestrelFalco newtoni
- Madagascar Harrier-HawkPolyboroides radiatus
- Madagascan BuzzardButeo brachypterus
- Madagascan SparrowhawkAccipiter madagascariensisNT
- Madagascan Cuckoo-HawkAviceda madagascariensis
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Sooty FalconFalco concolorVU
Owls3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Madagascar Scops-owlOtus rutilus
- Marsh OwlAsio capensis
- Western Barn OwlTyto alba
Waders11 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
- Madagascan PloverCharadrius thoracicusVU
- White-fronted PloverCharadrius marginatus
- Kittlitz's PloverCharadrius pecuarius
- Greater Sand PloverCharadrius leschenaultii
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
Gulls & seabirds3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Southern Black-backed GullLarus dominicanus
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Red-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon rubricauda
Ducks & geese2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Red-billed TealAnas erythrorhyncha
- White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduata
Herons, ibises & grebes4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Madagascar pond heronArdeola idae
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Great White EgretArdea alba
Flamingos2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Greater FlamingoPhoenicopterus roseus
- Lesser FlamingoPhoeniconaias minorNT
Songbirds32 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Pied CrowCorvus albus
- Madagascar LarkMirafra hova
- Madagascar Magpie-robinCopsychus albospecularis
- Madagascar Crested DrongoDicrurus forficatus
- Mascarene MartinPhedina borbonica
- Common MynaAcridotheres tristis
- Souimanga SunbirdCinnyris sovimanga
- Lantz's Brush-warblerNesillas lantzii
- Common NewtoniaNewtonia brunneicauda
- Common JeryNeomixis tenella
- Malagasy Paradise FlycatcherTerpsiphone mutata
- Chabert's VangaLeptopterus chabert
- Malagasy BulbulHypsipetes madagascariensis
- Lafresnaye's VangaXenopirostris xenopirostrisNT
- Archbold's NewtoniaNewtonia archboldi
- Sakalava WeaverPloceus sakalava
- Littoral Rock ThrushMonticola imerina
- Stripe-throated JeryNeomixis striatigulaNT
- Madagascan CisticolaCisticola cherina
- Madagascar Red FodyFoudia madagascariensis
- Madagascar Swamp-warblerAcrocephalus newtoni
- ThamnornisThamnornis chloropetoides
- Madagascar Cuckoo-shrikeCoracina cinerea
- Madagascar Brush-warblerNesillas typica
- Hook-billed VangaVanga curvirostris
- SicklebillFalculea palliata
- African Sand MartinRiparia paludicola
- African StonechatSaxicola torquatus
- Madagascar White-eyeZosterops maderaspatanus
- Red-shouldered VangaCalicalicus rufocarpalisVU
- Dark NewtoniaNewtonia amphichroa
- Madagascan StarlingHartlaubius auratus
Other birds28 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Greater Vasa ParrotCoracopsis vasa
- Verreaux's CouaCoua verreauxi
- Namaqua DoveOena capensis
- Olive Bee-eaterMerops superciliosus
- Madagascan ButtonquailTurnix nigricollis
- Running CouaCoua cursor
- Red-knobbed CootFulica cristata
- Madagascar SandgrousePterocles personatus
- Red-capped CouaCoua ruficeps
- Malagasy CoucalCentropus toulou
- Madagascar HoopoeUpupa marginata
- Helmeted GuineafowlNumida meleagris
- Madagascar Turtle-DoveNesoenas picturatus
- Lesser Vasa ParrotCoracopsis nigraVU
- Grey-headed LovebirdAgapornis canus
- Madagascar CuckooCuculus rochii
- Madagascar SwiftApus balstoni
- Crested CouaCoua cristata
- Madagascar Green-pigeonTreron australis
- Madagascar NightjarCaprimulgus madagascariensis
- Cuvier's RailDryolimnas cuvieri
- Malagasy palm swiftCypsiurus gracilis
- Madagascar SpinetailZoonavena grandidieri
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Baillon's CrakePorzana pusilla
- Madagascar KingfisherCorythornis vintsioides
- Western SwamphenPorphyrio porphyrio
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species from October to November.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan32°/24°135 mm
- Feb32°/24°90 mm
- Mar32°/23°60 mm
- Apr30°/22°25 mm
- May28°/19°16 mm
- Jun26°/18°13 mm
- Jul26°/17°7 mm
- Aug28°/17°7 mm
- Sep29°/19°10 mm
- Oct31°/21°22 mm
- Nov32°/22°32 mm
- Dec32°/24°78 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Lake Tsimanampetsotsa.
Lake in Madagascar
Lake Tsimanampetsotsa is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Madagascar.
93 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 3,329 open records.
The most recorded are the Pied Crow, the Greater Flamingo and the Madagascar Lark.
16 species come for the summer, 9 for the winter and 2 only pass through.
4 are threatened worldwide, including Madagascan Plover, Lesser Vasa Parrot and Sooty Falcon.
The most species are recorded from October to November.
Get there and watch
- Le Domaine d'Ambolaplace to stay · 8.6 km · 2 within 10 km
- Toliara Airport (TLE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 81 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
- 1campsites within 10 km
- 2places to stay within 10 kmLe Domaine d'Ambola
- 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
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 Tsimanampetsotsa.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 kmLake TsimanampetsotsaBortle 1 · this place
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q2024048) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 3,329 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 | 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.
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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
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birdwatching
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