OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGY OF THE MAURITIUS CUCKOO-SHRIKE CORACINA-TYPICA

The Mauritius Cuckoo-shrike Coracina typica, a threatened passerine en demic to Mauritius, was studied between 1989 and 1993. Previously undo cumented immature plumages are elucidated. From observation of 364 foo d items, the diet was found to be mainly large, arboreal arthropods (8 1-90 %) and day-geckoes (10 %), with 9 % of items unidentified but pos sibly arthropods. Geckoes, the largest items, formed more than 10 % of the total biomass eaten. Individuals varied in the items selected. Th e species appeared to be sedentary, territorial and monogamous. Egg-la ying occurred from September to February, with a complete post-breedin g moult. Both sexes built the nest, incubated and fed the young. From laying to fledging took around 50 days, with a further three-month dep endency period; such protracted development is typical of the family. The diet and foraging methods may in part explain the species' current restricted distribution and habitat selection within Mauritius, but t he species may, like many other island birds, prove more ecologically flexible than it at first appears.