Seychelles birds and where to find them

[Mr Gharial]

A thread to show where you can best find the Animals on the Seychelles. Do note that these are only made about the main islands of the Seychelles (Mahé, Praslin, Silhouette, La Digue and all nearby mini-islands. And not islands like Aldabra).


Side note: we will also be discussing reptiles, amphibians, inverts and mammals. But the title worked better this way

For anyone wanting to visit the Seychelles, here are some guides to spot some of the many interesting bird species living there!

For this thread I'll be working with six difficulty levels of seeing the animals:
Difficulty levels 1-6:

1: You could actively avoid this species and still find it.

2: There’s a large chance you’ll find this species, though it’ll take a few days until it’ll show up.

3: This species is a little difficult to find for someone without much wildlife experience, but you’ll find it eventually.

4: This species is best found in specific spots, but very difficult outside those places.

5: The chance is small that you’ll see this species, but with luck (a lot of it) it might turn up during a hike.

6: You will not find this species.

 

[Mr Gharial]

Common Mynah:

Starting with the most common bird you'll see. Undoubtably the first animal you'll see there.

Also: yeah, it makes all sorts of noises and it's very loud

 

[Mr Gharial]

Seychelles bulbul:


Another easy species to spot, though it'll take a day or two before it shows up

 

[Mr Gharial]

Red fody:


A very recognizable species that REALLY likes rice, apparently

 

[Mr Gharial]

Zebra dove:

The second easiest bird to spot, in my experience

 

[Mr Gharial]

Seychelles blue pigeon:

My personal favourite bird of the Seychelles, as well as one of the prettiest

 

[Mr Gharial]

Malagasy turtle dove:

Last of three notable pigeons in the Seychelles. (Though you'll also see rock pigeons in the cities)

 

[Mr Gharial]

Didn't expect people to find this instantly, I was counting on this going unseen for a few years but apparently people follow me around like... well, Inca terns in this case.
I'll be having a whole lot of them out eventually, but I'm still making them.

Also I didn't see every bird possible, but I did find more than the average tourist, mostly because I did my research beforehand. I'm hoping that by creating this, more ZooChatters will have better luck spotting and identifying the birds they find on the Seychelles. If any other ZooChatters ever go to the Seychelles again, that is.

For now: just be patient, Kevin.

 

[Mr Gharial]

Seychelles sunbird:

My first time seeing a bird like this!

 

[Mr Gharial]

White-tailed tropicbird:

Rather an oddball, they're seabirds but they're found best inland!

 

[aardvark250]

(I wonder where do you get the title from)
Anyway nice thread, keep it going! Seychelles surely got some nice endemic

 

[Mr Gharial]

(I wonder where do you get the title from)

It's original, I swear!
(Someone edited the logo on reddit, it's badass)

Seychelles surely got some nice endemic species

Indeed! In my opinion, the Seychelles are actually the best place in the world to properly see and identify birds. Islands like the Galapagos are too complicated, and every island could have its own list. While islands in the Caribbean or Indonesia have too many endemics to count. The Seychelles is the perfect in-between!

 

[Ursus]

6: You will not find this species.

This would then mean the species just doesn't exist on the island or else it would count as rating 4 right? Doable in the right spots.

Eitherway this is a very cool thread, I presume your recent vacation was at the Seychelles then?
Are the photos in the graphs your own?

 

[carl the birder]

nice. looking forward to find out what birds you saw

 

[Mr Gharial]

This would then mean the species just doesn't exist on the island or else it would count as rating 4 right? Doable in the right spots.

Eitherway this is a very cool thread, I presume your recent vacation was at the Seychelles then?
Are the photos in the graphs your own?

The photo next to the "personal sighting" notes are my own

For difficulty level number six are animals like the Seychelles Scops owl. I know there's technically a chance, but it's like seeing an albino giant panda in the wild

 

[carl the birder]

The photo next to the "personal sighting" notes are my own

For difficulty level number six are animals like the Seychelles Scops owl. I know there's technically a chance, but it's like seeing an albino giant panda in the wild

then i have two firends who have sean a albino giant panda

 

[Mr Gharial]

Seychelles kestrel:

Have I mentioned that it's the only bird of prey on the Seychelles yet?

 

[Mr Gharial]

then i have two firends who have sean a albino giant panda

Fair enough, but I assume they found them with the help of professional guide. For these guides I'm talking about tourists like myself, who go out without any help

 

[Carl Jones]

The upper right hand photo is Mauritius Kestrel.
The scientific name of the Seychelles Kestrel is Falco araea

 

[Mr Gharial]

Seychelles paradise flycatcher:

Very pretty!