Pollen's Vanga Xenopirostris polleni Scientific name definitions

24 cm; 61·5–65 g. A medium-sized vanga with stout, laterally compressed bill . Male has black head and throat, white side of neck; upperparts, including upperwing and tail slaty grey, primaries, primary coverts and alula blackish; black of throat extends narrowly to upper breast, rest of underparts whitish, occasionally tinged pale orange; iris blackish; bill light bluish-grey; legs dark grey. Female  is similar to male, except that blackish hood extends only to chin and throat (not to upper breast), breast variably (sometimes strongly) tinged orange, usually has white band below hood lacking orange coloration, and upperparts have stronger olive tinge. Juvenile is similar to adult, but when very young is pale orange below, like female but and with slightly less extensive hood, has pale pink bill and conspicuous orange gape; possible one-year-old male has breast blotchy orange with some black spots.

E Madagascar (not recorded in NW since type material collected).

Invertebrates, including beetles (Coleoptera), cockroaches (Blattodea), other insects and larvae, worms (Oligochaeta); also small vertebrates, e.g. chameleons (Chamaeleonidae). Forages mostly in middle and upper levels of forest. Investigates dead wood, seeks food under dead bark, examines twigs; main techniques are probing and gleaning. Singly, in pairs, and in family groups of 3–4 individuals, but most often within multi-species flocks with other vangas, including Tylas eduardi.

Wide variety of calls  , including characteristic loud descending "tseeang" or "tseeeo"  , also "whip". Other calls include quiet "chuck-chuk-chuk" in alarm, and various loud discordant whistles; "whit-whit-whit" contact call, similar to that of Tylas eduardi. Two individuals give antiphonal duet.

Few data. Breeding observed in Sept–Dec; nestlings in Sept at Ranomafana. Cup-shaped nest made from leaves and grass blades, usually 5 m above ground in fork of tree. Clutch 2 eggs; male and female participate equally in brooding and feeding of young. No other information.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near-threatened. Restricted range species: present in East Malagasy Wet Forests EBA. Locally not uncommon to scarce, and rather patchily distributed. Quite common between 400 m and 2000 m in S of evergreen humid forest belt from Ranomafana S to near Andohahela; scarce or apparently absent from many forest blocks farther N, such as Mantadia, Masoala, Perinet-Analamazaotra and Marojejy. Population believed to be rather small, and expected to experience a fairly rapid decline within a decade or two owing to forest clearance and degradation. Forest habitat threatened by slash-and-burn cultivation and commercial logging; if present trends not halted, much of the remaining forest, especially at lower elevations, will have gone within c. 20 years. Status requires monitoring.