A team of scientist rediscovered a bird in Myanmar that was thought to have gone extinct for a long time now. They have done so by using the recording of its unique call to trace down the bird.
The Jerdon’s Babbler (chrysomma altirostre altirostre) a petite brown bird almost the same size as a house sparrow was last seen in Myanmar in 1941 and was presumed to have been extinct.
As per the report in Birding Asia, a group of scientists uncovered several birds nesting in a little region of grassland called Bago.
A few of the left over patches of wild grassland was left along Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River and scientists picked up on that. The banks of this river are one of the most profoundly cultivated regions of this nation.
The team heard what they predicted to be the babbler’s unique way of call at a patch of grassland close to a deserted agricultural station. They recorded that call to be played later to lure the bird. The team from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Myanmar’s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division and the National University of Singapore mentioned in their report “The bird readily came in to playback and revealed itself to be a magnificent adult Jerdon’s Babbler.” They further added “Over the course of the next 48 hours, we repeatedly found the species at several locations in the immediate vicinity and managed to obtain blood samples and high quality photographs.”
According to scientists in Singapore, they are worried about the survival of the bird due to lack of remaining grasslands in Myanmar.
Colin Poole, director of Wildlife Conservation Society’s regional hub in Singapore, said in a statement “This discovery not only proves that the species still exists in Myanmar but that the habitat can still be found as well.”
He also added that “Future work is needed to identify remaining pockets of natural grassland and develop systems for local communities to conserve and benefit from them.”
Myanmar has more species of bird in comparison to any other nation in mainland Southeast Asia. Ornithologists are stating that this figure is expected to amplify given the fact that even more scientific research is carried out.
