Animalia Life

Mesitornis variegata
TAXONOMY
Mesites variegata I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1838, Madagascar. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: White-breasted roatelo; French: Mйsite variйe; German: Kurzfuss-stelzenralle; Spanish: Mesito Pechiblanco;.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
12 in (31 cm); male 3.5–4.0 oz (103–111 g), female lighter. Upperparts rufous brown; throat, eyebrows, and breast pale cream; black crescent-shaped markings on sides of breast and upper belly; nape may be gray.
DISTRIBUTION
Madagascar. Small patches of forest in the west and north of the island, and Ambatovaky in the east.
HABITAT
In the west and north: dry, deciduous forest on sandy soils, with sparse understory and thick leaf litter. In the east: lowland humid forest. Sea level to 1,150 ft (350 m).
BEHAVIOR
Terrestrial and secretive. Sedentary; usually found in family groups that defend territories year round.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds among leaf litter and low vegetation, occasionally probing the soil, searching for invertebrates and plant seeds.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Thought to be monogamous. Nests 3–9 ft (1–3 m) above the ground on a platform of sticks, October through April. Female incubates one to three eggs, period unknown. The young remain with parents for up to a year post-fledging.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Vulnerable.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Hunted opportunistically, if irregularly, due to their small size.

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