An odd looking songbird with a bald head living in a rugged region in Laos has been discovered by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of Melbourne, as part of a project funded and managed by the mining company MMG (Minerals and Metals Group).The species has been named Bare-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus hualon because of the lack of feathers on its face and part of its head. It is the only example of a bald songbird in mainland Asia. It is the first new species of bulbul – a family of about 130 species – described in Asia in over 100 years. A description of the new species has been published in the July issue of Forktail, the journal of the Oriental Bird Club.
The thrush-sized bird is greenish-olive with a light-colored breast, a distinctive featherless, pink face with bluish skin around the eye extending to the bill and a narrow line of hair-like feathers down the centre of the crown.
The bird seems to be primarily tree-dwelling and was found in an area of sparse forest on rugged limestone karsts – a little-visited habitat known for unusual wildlife discoveries.
"Its apparent restriction to rather inhospitable habitat helps to explain why such an extraordinary bird with conspicuous habits and a distinctive call has remained unnoticed for so long", said Iain Woxvold of the University of Melbourne and lead author of the paper.
Fortunately much of the bird's presumed habitat falls within legally protected areas in Laos. However, quarrying of limestone looms as a potential threat to wildlife in this area, along with habitat conversion for agriculture.
Press release by Wildlife Conservation Society
Read the full paper
I.A. Woxvold, J. W. Duckworth and R. J. Timmins. 2009. An unusual new bulbul (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae) from the Limestone karst of Lao PDR. Forktail 25: 1-12.
Photo Credit: I. Woxvold
1 comment:
very interesting!
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