New Species of Bird Discovered in Northeast India

A new species of bird has been discovered in Northeast India—the first such discovery since 1948. The spectacular new bird, Bugun Liocichla, has an olive body, black cap, orange-yellow lore (the area between the upper bill and eye) and patches of yellow, crimson and white on its wings.

The discovery was made by Ramana Athreya, an avid birder and professional astronomer who has been searching for the species ever since first sighting it over a decade ago at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, India. At that time, he spotted a pair of unique birds that did not match any descriptions in the field guides he consulted. The closest match was the Emei Shan Liocichla, a species that inhabits Southwest China, over 1000 km from Eaglenest.

Athreya did not see the birds again at Eaglenest until 2005. Athreya made a a field sketch of the bird and showed it to a colleage who tentatively identified them as Liocichla oneiensis. In May 2006, with a special permit from the Forest Department, Athreya mist netted a bird and took photographs and detailed notes before releasing it. Athreya also obtained recordings of the bird's song.

Athreya published his findings in a paper in the journal Indian Birds (Volume 2, Number 4). In it he describes he suggests that the bird is a new species of Liocichla and proposes the name Bugun Liocichla (Liocichla bugunorum).

Although it is standard practice to kill and preserve a specimen of a new species to act as proof of its existsence, Athreya decided not to do so:

“We thought the bird was just too rare for one to be killed. 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.” ~ Ramana Athreya

Athreya's collection of photographs, song recordings, and feather samples of the Liocichla are archived at the Bombay Natural History Society Museum in Mumbai.

Sources

• Bugun Liocichla: A Sensantional Discovery in Northeast India (BirdLife International)
• New Indian Bird Species 'Too Rare to Collect' (BirdLife International)
• A new species of Liocichla (Aves: Timaliidae) from Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India (BirdLife International)

Photo © Ramana Athreya / Birdlife International. Bugon Liocichla.