The bird with striking colours has been discovered by Ramana Athreya at the Eagle nest Wildlife sanctuary in West Kameng district.
NEW DELHI: A striking multi-coloured bird has been discovered in a remote area of the northeast, making it the first ornithological find in the country in more than half a century, experts said on Tuesday.
The Bugun Liocichla, scientifically known as Liocichla bugunorum, a kind of babbler, was discovered in May at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China.
The bird -- with olive and golden-yellow plumage, a black cap and flame-tipped wings -- is 8 inches in length and named after the Bugun tribespeople who live on the sanctuary's periphery.
Professional astronomer and keen birdwatcher, Ramana Athreya, who discovered the bird said that although two Bugun Liocichlas were caught and examined at the sanctuary, both were released and no scientific specimen collected.
"We thought the bird was just too rare for one to be killed (for scientific study)," said Ramana.
"With today's modern technology, we could gather all the information we needed to confirm it as a new species. We took feathers and photographs, and recorded the bird's song."
"The discovery of a new bird is really special," said Aasheesh Pittie, editor of Indian Birds bi-monthly journal where the description of the Bugun liocichla was published. "But when it's a stunning species with no geographically close relatives, and in a part of the world where bird collectors have sampled birds for more than a century, it's nothing short of miraculous."
The last new bird species to be discovered in mainland India was the Rusty-throated "Mishmi" in 1948.
The known population of the Bugun Liocichla consists of only 14, including three breeding pairs.
Ramana first sighted the bird at the sanctuary in 1995 but it was more than a decade before he saw it again. "Even then I knew it was something very special. But it wasn't until I spotted the bird again in January 2005 that I knew for certain I was not hallucinating in 1995," he said.
Ramana eventually succeeded in trapping two birds with nets in May this year. The news was kept under wraps until it was confirmed that it was a new species.
"A priority now is to find out what its habitat requirements are, so that appropriate conservation measures can be put in place," said Nigel Collar of Birdlife International.
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