Calicalicus madagascariensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The red-tailed vanga (Calicalicus madagascariensis) is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the red-tailed vanga in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Madagascar. He used the French name La petite pie-griesche de Madagascar and the Latin Lanius Madagascariensis minor. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the red-tailed vanga. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Lanius madagascariensis and cited Brisson's work. The species is now placed in the genus Calicalicus that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The species is monotypic.
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 3 | Montagne d'Ambre National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Ankarana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Red-tailed Vanga sighting in Montagne d'Ambre National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 30 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-tailed Vanga sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Red-tailed Vanga sightings, Montagne d'Ambre National Park ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Ranomafana National Park (Madagascar, about 60%) and Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Vangidae
The closest relatives of the Red-tailed Vanga that you can see in Montagne d'Ambre National Park (family Vangidae, Vangas, Helmetshrikes, and Allies) are Common Newtonia (about 30%), Dark Newtonia (about 30%) and Hook-billed Vanga (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-tailed Vanga is recorded against all the birds logged in Montagne d'Ambre National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
