Feb

27

2007
 
 

Thai surprise



A reed warbler like this, perhaps?Missing bird shows up again after 139 year absence

The large-billed reed warbler Acrocephalus orinus, known only from a single bird caught in India in 1867, has finally reappeared, this time in Thailand. According to the recently published findings of a team of surprised ornithologists, led by Philip Round at Mahidol University, Bangkok, the bird was trapped during field work at the Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, a whopping 3100 km from where it was last recorded. DNA analysis on a “donated” tail feather confirmed the bird’s identity and allowed the scientists to take a stab at estimating the global population size. There could be between 26 and 40 breeding birds left in the wild, although some big assumptions had to be made to arrive at those figures. Not believing the old adage, Pound’s team released their captive, hoping that there are indeed more out there in the bush.

Source: Round PD, Hansson B, Pearson DJ, Kennerley PR & Bensch S (2007) Lost and found: the enigmatic large-billed reed warbler Acrocephalus orinus rediscovered after 139 years. Journal of Avian Biology DOI: 10.1111/j.2007.0908-8857.04064.x

Image © Iurii Konoval (NB: It’s not Acrocephalus orinus!)

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Filed Under Endangered species, Monitoring | 

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