New Bird Species Is Discovered In India
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NEW DELHI —A new bird species has been found in India, the first time such a discovery has been made here in more than 50 years, an astronomer and keen bird watcher said yesterday.
The multicolored bird, Bugun Liocichla, was spotted in May in the remote Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh near the border with China, a member of Mumbai’s Natural History Society, Ramana Athreya, said.
Mr. Athreya, who found the bird, named it after the Bugun tribe, which lives in the area. The bird has a black cap, a bright yellow patch around the eyes, and yellow, crimson, black, and white patches on the wings, he told the Associated Press. A global alliance of conservation organizations, Birdlife International, described it on its Web site as “the most sensational ornithological discovery in India for more than half a century.”
Mr. Athreya caught two of the species but released them after making notes and taking photographs and keeping feathers that had worked loose in his net.
“We thought the bird was just too rare for one to be killed,” Mr. Athreya said.
“We took feathers and photographs and recorded the bird’s songs,” he said.
