The Tsiribihina is a river of western

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. The main tributaries are the Mahajilo,

Manandaza Manandaza is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Miandrivazo, which is a part of Menabe Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 6,000 in 2001 commune census. Primary and ...

, Mania, and Sakeny rivers. Its basin has an area of 49,800 km². 7,025 km² is in the basin of the Sakeny River, 14,500 km² in that of the Mahajilo River, and 18,565 km² in that of the Mania River. The headwaters are on Madagascar's Central Highlands. The tributary streams flow generally westwards except for the Sakeny, which flows northwards. As they leave the highlands and enter the north–south running Betsiriry Plain, the tributary rivers converge to form the Tsiribihina - the Mahajilo and Manandaza from the north, and the Mania and Sakeny from the south. There are extensive seasonal wetlands and shallow lakes where the rivers converge on the plain. The rich alluvial soils of the Betsiriry Plain make it one of the most suitable regions for agriculture in western Madgagascar.Vololona, Mireille & Kyotalimye, Miriam & Thomas, Timothy & Waithaka, Michael. (2013). ''Madagascar''. In Michael Waithaka, Gerald C. Nelson, Timothy S. Thomas, and Miriam Kyotalimye, eds. ''East African agriculture and climate change''. IFPRI, pp. 213-246. 10.13140/2.1.4432.5766. The plain's wetlands and lakes are important habitat for waterbirds.BirdLife International (2022
Important Bird Areas factsheet: Wetlands of the Tsiribihina delta and upper Tsiribihina river
Accessed 20 November 2022. The Tsiribihina then flows westward, cutting a steep and winding gorge through the Bemaraha Plateau, a limestone formation that extends north and south along the western edge of the Betsiriry Plain.Aldegheri, M. (1972). Rivers and Streams on Madagascar. In: Battistini, R., Richard-Vindard, G. (eds) ''Biogeography and Ecology in Madagascar''. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7159-3_8 As the river emerges from the Bemaraha Plateau it widens and meanders. There are several shallow lakes along the lower course, including Lake Kimanomby near Ambohibary and Lake Masoarivo near Masoarivo. The river delta is large, extending about 35 km north to south. It includes coastal beaches and dunes, mudflats, salt flats, mangroves, and freshwater marshes. The mangroves are generally 2–4 meters high, and the predominant trees are species of ''

Avicennia ''Avicennia'' is a genus of flowering plants currently placed in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. It contains mangrove trees, which occur in the intertidal zones of estuarine areas and are characterized by its "pencil roots", which are ...

Rhizophora ''Rhizophora'' is a genus of tropical mangrove trees, sometimes collectively called true mangroves. The most notable species is the red mangrove (''Rhizophora mangle'') but some other species and a few natural hybrids are known. ''Rhizophora'' ...

, Ceriops,

Bruguiera ''Bruguiera'' is a plant genus in the family Rhizophoraceae. It is a small genus of five mangrove species and three hybrids of the Indian and west Pacific Ocean region, its range extending from East Africa and Madagascar through coastal India ...

'', and ''

Sonneratia ''Sonneratia'' is a genus of plants in the family Lythraceae. Formerly the Sonneratia were placed in a family called Sonneratiaceae which included both the ''Sonneratia'' and the ''Duabanga'', but these two are now placed in their own mono ...

''. The saltflats often flood during the rainy season. The freshwater marshes and lakes of the lower Tsiribihina are dominated by the sedges ''

Cyperus ''Cyperus'' is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. Description They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving ...

'' spp, the reed ''

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in L ...

'', and non-native water-hyacinth ''

Eichhornia ''Eichhornia'', commonly called water hyacinths, was a polyphyletic genus of the aquatic flowering plants family Pontederiaceae. Since it was consistently recovered in three independent lineages, it has been sunk into '' Pontederia'', togethe ...

''. The mouth of the river is near

Belon'i Tsiribihina Belon'i Tsiribihina (also known as Belo sur Tsiribihina or Belo - Tsiribihina) is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Belo sur Tsiribihina, which is a part of Menabe Region. It is situated at the mouth ...

, where it empties into the

Mozambique channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about lon ...

. 82 species of birds have been recorded from the Tsiribihina River and its delta, 22 of which are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Madagascar.

Bernier's teal Bernier's teal (''Anas bernieri''), also known as the Madagascar teal, is a species of duck in the genus ''Anas''. It is endemic to Madagascar, where it is found only along the west coast. Part of the "grey teal" complex found throughout Australa ...

(''Anas bernieri'') breeds in the mangroves. The

Madagascar pratincole The Madagascar pratincole (''Glareola ocularis'') is a species of bird in the family Glareolidae. It is found in Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, possibly Mauritius, and possibly Réunion. Its natural habitat ...

(''Glareola ocularis'') congregates in large numbers on the banks of the river, and one of Madagascar's largest congregations of the Madagascar subspecies of white-backed duck (''Thalassornis leuconotus insularis'') occurs at Lake Masoarivo. A few pairs of Madagascar fish eagle (''Haliaeetus vociferoides'') live along the river. The Menabe Antimena protected area covers the south bank of the lower Tsiribihina along with the delta and mangroves. The Tsiribihina Delta is designated a wetland of international importance under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

, and the Tsiribihina River and its delta are designated an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International.

References

{{Coord, 19, 53, S, 44, 27, E, display=title, region:MG_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Madagascar Rivers of Menabe Rivers of Bongolava Rivers of Melaky Ramsar sites in Madagascar Important Bird Areas of Madagascar