C. m. comorensis (Shelley, 1894): Also known as the Comoros blue vanga, it is found on Mohéli in the Comoro Islands. It tends to be larger than madagarensis and is also exhibits slight differences in colour. It has occasionally been considered as distinct species
C. m. bensoniLouette & Herremans, 1982: It is found on Grande Comore in the Comoro Islands. It is described from only a single immature specimen, and looks very similar to comorensis. Doubts have been cast on whether it is a distinctive taxon.[3]
It has a ultramarine blue beak with a black tip in males and a dark brown tip in females. The iris is pale blue in adults, while the legs and feet are black or dark slate in colour.[3]
Distribution
The species is found on the islands of Grand Comore and Mohéli in the Comoros Islands.
It inhabits a variety of woodland on the Comoro Islands. It is known to inhabits habitats above an elevation of 300 m (980 ft) on Mohéli. On Grand Comore, it is mainly known from degraded forest patches with banana cultivation on the slopes of Mount Karthala at an elevation of 700–900 m (2,300–3,000 ft).[3]
Status
The species on the Comoro Islands is threatened by a limited range, deforestation and habitat loss, and degradation of the habitat due to invasive plant species like Syzygium jambos, Lantana camara and Clidemia hirta.[4]
^ abcKirwan, Guy M.; Yamagishi, Satoshi; del Hoyo, Josep; Collar, Nigel; Nakamura, Masahiko (2020-03-04), Billerman, Shawn M.; Keeney, Brooke K.; Rodewald, Paul G.; Schulenberg, Thomas S. (eds.), "Blue Vanga (Cyanolanius madagascarinus)", Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, doi:10.2173/bow.bluvan1.01, retrieved 2021-09-20