Posted on May, 11 2011

A new bird species, given the common name of ‘Spectacled Flowerpecker’, has been discovered in the Heart of Borneo, in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia. Details of the discovery, made by David Edwards of the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds, UK, were in the latest issue of the Oriental Bird Club’s magazine, BirdingASIA. It is hoped that it will lead to further sightings and its formal scientific description as a new species. Dr Edwards and his accompanying guide, Richard Webster, observed the bird while walking along a 250m canopy-walkway and very quickly realized they were on the verge ofdiscovering something very significant. “The realization that in all probability we had been watching a species unknown to science was an incredible feeling,” Dr Edwards said. “We were elated because we were on the verge of an amazing discovery, but it was mixed with trepidation in case it was never seen again.” Dr Edwards revisited the area several times, but there was no further sign of the bird.

Photos of the bird show an attractive grey bird with bright white arcs above and below the eye, a white throat extending as a broad white stripe down the centre of the belly, and white tufts at the breast sides. “We hope the announcement of our discovery will lead to our ultimate goal: conservation of the new species and large tracts of its habitat,which is under threat from clearance for oil palm agriculture,” explained Dr Edwards.
The finding is all the more surprising given its location in Danum Valley, where a scientific research station has been in operation since 1986. “The discovery of a new bird species in the Heart of Borneo underlines the incredible diversity of this remarkable area,” said Adam Tomasek, leader of WWF’s Heart of Borneo
Initiative.