Ornithological discovery: Bugun Liocichla
Posted By RichC on September 14, 2006
BIRDING NEWS — Ramana Athreya, member of India’s Mumbai’s Natural History Society, has detailed a new bird species he calls the Bugun Liocichla. It is a multicolored bird and is located in the remote Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The bird has been named Bugun Liocichla after the Bugun tride which lives in this area and is said to resemble Emei Shan Liocichla, although has many differences in plumage and calls, especially song. The Bugun Liocichla is also about 10% larger in all measurements except for the beak, which is smaller, according to the Indian Birds Volume 2 Number 4 (full 13 page PDF with photos is available here).
Athreya has netted two of the species although released them after photographing and making detailed notes. The bird has a black cap, a bright yellow patch around the eyes and yellow, crimson, black and white patches on the wings according to Athreya’s notes. Ramana Athreya commented that he first spotted the bird in 1995, but it wasn’t until May this year that he was able to document his earlier spottings. Birdlife International described the find as “the most sensational ornithological discovery in India for more than half a century.”
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