The brown mesite (''Mesitornis unicolor'') is a ground-dwelling

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

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 elsew ...

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 ...

. It is one of three species in the mesite

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

or the Mesitornithidae, and though classified as vulnerable by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN), it is the most widespread of the three.

Description

This species is a medium-sized terrestrial bird which is often described as

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

-like (a family with which the mesites are sometimes placed). The species has a plain face, marked only by a slightly contrasting fleshy eye-ring around a rather large eye and a variable white streak behind the eye. It has a short straight

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. The upperparts of the bird are rufous brown, the underside tawny with no barring or spotting.

Ecology

The brown mesite is a humid forest species, it forages by walking through the forest floor flicking over leaf-litter in order to find invertebrates. Its rufous brown plumage provides reasonable

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

on the shady forest floor. The preferred habitat is undisturbed

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

from sea-level up to . One to three eggs are laid in a nest which consists of a loose platform made from twigs and lined with plant fibre and leaves. The eggs are dull white with brown markings on one end. Soon after hatching the chicks leave the nest. It is secretive and rarely seen. The brown mesite has never been observed flying; this may be simply due to its secretive habits, or it may be because it is in fact

flightless Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the ...

.Roots, Clive. Flightless Birds. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2006. 136-37. Print.

Distribution

The brown mesite has a patchy distribution in humid evergreen forest along the eastern coast of Madagascar, from

Marojejy National Park Marojejy National Park () is a national park in the Sava region of northeastern Madagascar. It covers and is centered on the Marojejy Massif, a mountain chain that rises to an elevation of . Access to the area around the massif was restricted ...

in the north to

Tôlanaro Fort-Dauphin (Malagasy Tolagnaro or Taolagnaro) is a city (''commune urbaine'') on the southeast coast of Madagascar. It is the capital of the Anosy Region and of the Taolagnaro District. It has been a port of local importance since the early 1500 ...

to the south.

Status

The population of this species is patchily distributed, and is vulnerable for preferring lower elevation forests which are under the greatest pressure from human disturbance. It is suspected that the population is rapidly declining because of predation by dogs, rats and by hunting. Its forests are also threatened by

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified the conservation status of this bird as ″vulnerable″.

References

* ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'', Volume Three, Hoatzin to Auks; ''de Hoyo, Elliot'' and ''Sargatal'',

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.

{{Taxonbar, from=Q741289 Mesitornis Birds described in 1845 Taxa named by Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs Fauna of the Madagascar lowland forests Endemic birds of Madagascar