Plaine des Chicots – Plaine d'Affouches Important Bird Area is a 3688 ha tract of land on the island of

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

, a

French territory Overseas France (, also ) consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most are part of the European ...

in the western

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Description

The IBA comprises a sloping plain extending northwards and downwards from the northern rim of the

Mafate The ''Cirque de Mafate'' is a caldera on Réunion Island (France; located in the Indian Ocean). It was formed from the collapse of the large shield volcano the ''Piton des Neiges''. The very remote and inaccessible cirque was settled in the 19 ...

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

, at an elevation of 2277 m on the summit of Roche Ecrite, towards Saint-Denis, the coastal capital of the island territory. The plain is divided by the

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

of the Saint-Denis River into the Plaine d’Affouches in the west and the Plaine des Chicots in the east. The higher part of the site is dominated by native alpine

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

, from 1600 m to 1500 m by endemic ''

Acacia heterophylla ''Acacia heterophylla'', the highland tamarind,Forestry Abstracts, University of Oxford Commonwealth Forestry Bureau, p.327, 1939 is a tree (or shrub in its higher places) Endemism, endemic to Réunion, Réunion island where it is commonly named ...

'' forest, and then native mixed mountain forest down to about 1000 m above sea level. Although the site is now a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

, in the past it was stocked with Javan rusa deer for

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

. There is a popular walking track from Saint-Denis to Roche Ecrite across the Plaine des Chicots. The lowest part of the site abuts ''

Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan, ...

'' plantations.

Birds

The site has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because it supports a breeding colony of

tropical shearwater The tropical shearwater (''Puffinus bailloni'') is a seabird in the family Procellariidae formerly considered conspecific with Audubon's shearwater (''Puffinus lherminieri''). Subspecies There are five listed subspecies of the tropical shearwa ...

s (300 breeding pairs) as well as populations of

Mascarene swiftlet The Mascarene swiftlet or Mauritius swiftlet (''Aerodramus francicus'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Mauritius and Réunion, and the populations on the two islands have recently been confirmed to differ subspecifica ...

Réunion cuckooshrike The Réunion cuckooshrike (''Lalage newtoni'') is a passerine bird in the cuckooshrike family. It is endemic to the island of Réunion, where it is restricted to two areas of mountain forest in the north of the island. Males are dark grey above a ...

Mascarene paradise flycatcher The Mascarene paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone bourbonnensis'') is a species of bird in the monarch-flycatcher family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion. There are two subspecies recognized: the nomin ...

Réunion bulbul The Réunion bulbul (''Hypsipetes borbonicus'') is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is endemic to Réunion. Taxonomy and systematics The Réunion bulbul was originally described in the genus ''Turdus''. Formerly, some author ...

s, Mascarene white-eyes,

Réunion olive white-eye The Réunion olive white-eye (''Zosterops olivaceus'') is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is found on Réunion. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. Description like the ...

s, and

Réunion stonechat The Réunion stonechat (''Saxicola tectes'') is a species of stonechat, endemic to the French Indian Ocean island of Réunion. It is found across the island in forests, shrublands and artificial environments such as gardens and plantations. This ...

References

Important Bird Areas of Réunion Seabird colonies Saint-Denis, Réunion {{Réunion-geo-stub