Mar 04 2012
Researchers from Madagascar and the United States have described a new species of forest-dwelling rail. The new bird was named Mentocrex beankaensis, with the genus Mentocrex being endemic to Madagascar and the new species beankaensis being coined after the type locality, the Beanka Forest in western central Madagascar. This species was distinguished from another in …
Mar 04 2012
For the first time in almost four decades, a new bird species has been discovered in the United States. But there’s a catch: the Bryan’s shearwater was identified in a museum collection. Though others have been reported, the first living bird-in-hand example awaits finding. On February 7, 2012, the DNA tests on 6 specimens found …
Jan 30 2011
Fenwick’s Antpitta Antpitta Grallaria fenwickorum CRITICALLY ENDANGERED A new species of Antpitta Grallaria (family Grallariidae) is described from the Colibrí del Sol Bird Reserve situated on the southeastern slope of the Páramo del Sol massif on the northern end of the Western Andes of Colombia. Fenwick’s Antpitta Grallaria fenwickorum sp nov. most closely resembles Brown-banded …
Jan 30 2011
Laniarius willardi The bird Laniarius willardi, is a newly described species of boubou shrike (Malaconotidae) whose single distinctive trait is its blue-gray eyes. Abstract of the paper describing the new species in the July issue of the international ornithological journal The Auk follows here. We describe Laniarius willardi, a new species of boubou shrike (Malaconotidae) …
Jan 30 2011
Ruaha Chat Myrmecocichla collaris Geographically structured plumage variation among populations of White-headed Black Chat (Myrmecocichla arnotti) in Tanzania confirms the race collaris to be a valid taxon. Roughly 40% of Tanzania is comprised of Miombo (Brachystegia) woodland interspersed with seasonal wetlands induced by restricted river flow. Some of these seasonal wetlands attain lakelike proportions during …
Jan 29 2011
Spectacled Flowerpecker NOT YET EVALUATED The Spectacled Flowerpecker is a new species of bird discovered in the forests of north-eastern Borneo in June 2009 and apparently belonging to the flowerpecker family Dicaeidae. It has not yet been formally described or given a scientific name because of limited information and lack of a specimen. The new …
Jan 29 2011
Limestone Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus calciatilis NOT YET EVALUATED Beginning in 1994, ornithologists began to notice birds thought to be the Sulpher-breasted Warbler (P. ricketti) in breeding condition, singing, in what was their wintering range in Laos. Upon more detailed study, they realized these warblers represented a unique taxon. The plumage was nearly identical to P. …
Jan 29 2011
Bare-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus hualon NOT YET EVALUATED Based on distinctive morphological (plumage and skin) and vocal characters we describe a new species of bulbul from the limestone karst of central Lao PDR and place it in the genus Pycnonotus. The species is so far known from one locality in Savannakhet province and two probable earlier …
Jan 29 2011
Río Orinoco Spinetail Synallaxis beverlyae NOT YET EVALUATED We describe a new species of spinetail, Synallaxis beverlyae (Río Orinoco Spinetail), from river island scrub in the lower and middle sections of the main river channel of the Río Orinoco in Venezuela and adjacent Colombia. This taxon has been overlooked previously because river islands were not …
Jan 28 2011
Yungas Tyrannulet Phyllomyias weedeni VULNERABLE The Yungas Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias weedeni) is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is, as suggested by its common name, restricted to humid and semi-humid forest in the Yungas of north-western Bolivia and far south-eastern Peru. Although discovered in the early 1990s, it was only formally described in …
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