OSLO (Reuters) - Scientists have found a new species of bird in Borneo, the "spectacled flowerpecker", and expressed the hope on Thursday that the discovery would help spur conservation of the island's threatened forests.
The small bird, grey with white stripes, was spotted in June 2009 on flowering mistletoe in the Malaysian part of Borneo by a group including biologist David Edwards of Leeds University in England."We hope the announcement of our discovery will lead to our ultimate goal: conservation of the new species and large tracts of its habitat, which is under threat from clearance for oil palm agriculture," he said in a statement.
"This discovery shows once more how little is known about the diversity of life on our planet," said Jean-Christophe Vie, Deputy Director of the Species Program of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
This year is the U.N.'s International Year of Biodiversity, trying to protect animals and plants from threats such as loss of habitats to expanding cities, road building, climate change and introductions of alien species.
(Writing by Alister Doyle, editing by Tim Pearce)
New bird species discovered in Danum Valley
Hilary Chiew, The Star 15 Jan 10;
PETALING JAYA: A new species of flowerpecker, a tiny lowland bird, has been discovered in Danum Valley, Sabah – a fitting gift to Malaysia as it ushers in the International Year of Biodiversity.
Named the Spectacled flowerpecker for the white, broken ring around its eyes, the bird has yet to be described scientifically.
The discovery was made by bird guide Richard Webster last June 18 while birdwatching on the 35m above-ground canopy walkway of the Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
A media release by the University of Leeds said after Webster consulted with Dr David Edwards, a fellow at the university’s Faculty of Biological Science who has been conducting ornithological studies in the region for three years, he realised that he had stumbled upon a species new to science.
Further observations over the following days by Webster, Dr Edwards and Rose Ann Rowlett, another tour guide, found at least two of the unknown birds feeding on a fruiting mistletoe, a parasitic plant growing on the tualang tree. They even heard one of the birds singing.
Photographs by Webster show an attractive grey bird with bright white arcs above and below the eye, a white throat extending as a broad white stripe down the centre of the belly and white tufts at the breast sides.
Comparison of these photographs with specimens of roughly 45 species of flowerpeckers under the Dicaeidae family in the British Natural History Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, United States, and extensive literature checks convinced Dr Edwards that the species was never before recorded from Borneo or anywhere else in the world.
“The realisation that in all probability we had been watching a species unknown to science was an incredible feeling. We were elated because we were on the verge of an amazing discovery but it was mixed with trepidation in case it is never seen again,” said Dr Edwards.
The avian discovery is detailed in an article in the latest issue of the Oriental Bird Club magazine, BirdingASIA, which was released yesterday.
New bird species found in rainforests of Borneo
By Doreen Walton, BBC News 14 Jan 10;
A new species of bird has been spotted in the rainforests of Borneo.
Leeds University biologist Richard Webster first glimpsed the bird from a canopy walkway 35m above ground.
The spectacled flowerpecker, a small, wren-sized, grey bird, was feeding on some flowering mistletoe in a tree. On one sighting it was heard singing.
The bird has white markings around its eyes, belly and breast. It has not yet been given a scientific name because so little is known about it.
Dr David Edwards, a tropical ecologist at the University of Leeds, identified the bird as a new species from photographs.
"It's like a dream come true," he said. "I've spent all these years, decades, watching birds and all you want to do really is discover a new species to science.
"All that tropical field work has paid off, all the mosquitoes, the leeches, the rainstorms and the mud have been worthwhile."
The team caught sight of the birds several times in the days following its first appearance.
They were working in the Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah, Malaysia, last summer.
"The discovery of a new bird species in the heart of Borneo underlines the incredible diversity of this remarkable area," said Adam Tomasek, leader of WWF's Heart of Borneo initiative.
The findings are published in Oriental Bird Club's journal BirdingASIA.