Mauritius Birding Tours
Mauritius is perhaps best known for its tropical beach hotels and its low tax rates, but this small tropical paradise offers much more than that. With a diverse culture and beautiful mountainous scenery, the fantastic endemics draw avian enthusiasts. Our Mauritius birding tours aim to find all of the endemic bird species found on Mauritius and Rodrigues.
Mauritius has two habitable and easily visited territories: the main island of Mauritius, and Rodrigues, 360 miles (580 km) east of the main island. Rodrigues has its own unique culture and even its own creole dialect. Both islands are a must-visit in order to see all the endemic birds.
The most common endemic bird is Mauritius Grey White-eye, this species is found in almost all habitats on Mauritius. We will spend time in the Black River Gorges National Park, where Mauritius Bulbul is regularly seen, as well as the desolata race of Mascarene Paradise Flycatcher (this is a possible split from the Réunion race). Here, we will also listen for Mauritius Cuckooshrike, which can often be seen calling from an elevated perch in the forest. There are two parakeets in Mauritius, Rose-ringed and Echo Parakeets. Rose-ringed Parakeet is highly invasive while Echo Parakeet is an endemic. These two species are very similar in appearance but differ in their calls and the females’ plumage. Pink Pigeon can be found in tall humid forests and can often take some effort to track down. Mauritius Olive White-eye and Mauritius Fody are exceptionally hard to see. There are a few good sites for these two endemics in the national park, otherwise Île aux Aigrettes is worth a visit. Île aux Aigrettes is a small island south of Mauritius where some of the endemics have been reintroduced to safeguard the populations. Mauritius Kestrel is possibly the hardest endemic to see. The best chance for this species is to visit ebony forest or to search the general area for them. They can often be seen flying over the forest in search of day geckos. Mascarene Martin and Mascarene Swiftlet can also be seen around the island; the francicus race of the latter is endemic to Mauritius.
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Several of the endemics were previously on the brink of extinction, thankfully, the populations have flourished again because of successful conservation initiatives. In past decades Mauritius Kestrel numbered as low as four individuals, and Pink Pigeon numbers were down to eight individuals.
Rodrigues has two endemics, Rodrigues Warbler and Rodrigues Fody. These are two of the most range restricted species in the world, with a tiny range of less than 5.5 square miles (14 square kilometres).
The two islands are also home to endemic reptiles and mammals, with Mauritius and Rodrigues Flying Foxes being firm favorites and likely easily seen. Several fantastic day geckos can also be found.