Posted on February, 06 2008

Nepalese scientists have recorded a new subspecies of bird at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) of east Nepal.

The bird was first recorded by Ornithologist and Chairperson of Nepal Rare Birds Committee (NRBC) Mr Suchit Basnet and Mr Badri Chaudhary on 1 April 2005 at Koshi Tappu. The bird was identified as Rufous-vented Prinia bringing Nepal's total bird list to 862 species. The bird is known as Prinia burnesii to scientific community. The new taxon from Nepal is referred to as Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia Prinia burnesii nipalensis.

A team of experts affiliated with Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) led by Ornithologist Dr Hem Sagar Baral has further assessed the taxonomic status of the bird and recently declared the bird as a new subspecies of Rufous-vented Prinia. According to Dr Baral the subspecies is currently found only in Nepal. "Discovery of a new taxon from Koshi Tappu, which is one of the most bird watched areas of the country indicates the possibilities of finding more new species from the country,” he said.

Ornithologists call this as a ground breaking research work and most significant on the taxonomy of Nepal's birds after the discovery of Nepal Wren Babbler Pnoepyga immaculata a new bird described to science nearly 17 years ago.

The other two subspecies of Rufous-vented Prinia - Prinia burnesii burnesii is found in Pakistan in the west along the tributaries of Indus River and adjacent Punjab in India, and Prinia burnesii cinerascens is found in Assam in the east along the Bramhaputra River systems and adjoining states of India and Bangladesh. The newly described bird shows somewhat intermediate characters between the two subspecies and appears to form a link between them, is found in the Ganges River systems, which is the other major river system in the Indian subcontinent.

The adult of this new subspecies has overall olive-grey to light brown plumage. The head and nape are greyer compared to the browner back, wings and tail. In most individuals, there is faint whitish supercilium which reaches behind the eye. The head is densely streaked compared to back. On the back, the streaks are bolder compared to the ones in head. The juveniles are similar to adults but slightly less marked on the head and body. All birds seen and heard were located on grassland patches on small islands of the Koshi River. The grass species in the area included Saccharum spontaneum, S. arundinacea, Typha elephantine, and Phragmites karka. Sparsely dotted young sissoo Dalbergia sissoo trees and xeric bushes Casurina spps. were also present in the area. They were absent in heavily disturbed grasslands adjacent to villages indicating their preference for less disturbed grasslands.

It is a resident breeding species and highly threatened in the country because of habitat loss and degradation. Future surveys might reveal its presence in grasslands in different parts of the country.

Conservationists in Nepal have already listed the species as critically endangered for the country and emphasized as a candidate species for IUCN Red Data list.

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is situated on the flood plains of the Sapta-Koshi River in eastern Nepal. The Koshi River originates in the mountains of Nepal and the Tibetan plateau and flows through northern India. WWF Nepal has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the government’s Water and Energy Commission Secretariat to sustainably manage the Koshi River basin.