A team of biologists with the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have recorded for the first time the call of the extremely rare Sumatran ground cuckoo, found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
The bird was captured by a trapper and handed over to WCS biologists, who recorded the bird’s call while it nursed an injured foot. Once fully recovered, the bird will be released back into the wild.
Known only by a handful of specimens collected over the past century, the Sumatran ground cuckoo is considered to be one of the world’s rarest, most secretive birds, and is restricted to Sumatra’s deep jungles and rainforests. In fact, ornithologists believed the bird was extinct until 1997, when a single individual was briefly seen. Last year a second bird was photographed by a remote camera trap. It is now believed to be critically endangered. Until now, however, no one knew the bird’s call – a key field diagnostic ornithologists use to identify birds that live in forest. According to WCS, having a recording of the bird’s call will also make it easier for biologists to locate other individuals, and to possibly evaluate the bird’s total population.
"We were extremely lucky to have recorded the bird’s unique call," said Firdaus Rahman, of WCS’s Indonesia Program. "Our team will use the recording to hopefully locate other Sumatran ground cuckoos, and to eventually secure their protection."
The recoded call can best be described as a pair of sharp screams. It is unknown at this point whether the bird has additional vocalizations.
Sumatran ground cuckoos are relatively large birds (half a meter long) with long tails. It has green plumage with a black crown and green bill, and striking blue facial markings.
The Wildlife Conservation Society operates a field conservation projects throughout Indonesia, and works with local partners to safeguard this archipelago’s amazing wildlife, many of which are found nowhere else on earth.
The WCS project to relocate the Sumatran Ground Cuckoo was supported by the Swedish 300 Club Foundation for Bird Protection. Their Chairman, Henrik Lind, adds "We are delighted with the result of this work and we hope it highlights the need to support such work into the future".
Source: Wildlife Conservation Society
Related stories:
DNA Barcodes: Are They Always Accurate?
(PhysOrg.com) -- DNA barcoding is a movement to catalog all life on earth by a simple standardized genetic tag, similar to stores labeling products with unique barcodes. The effort promises foolproof food inspection, improved border security and better defenses against disease-causing insects, among many other applications.
Study: DNA barcoding in danger of 'ringing up' wrong species
DNA barcoding is a movement to catalog all life on earth by a simple standardized genetic tag, similar to stores labeling products with unique barcodes. The effort promises foolproof food inspection, improved border security, and better defenses against disease-causing insects, among many other applications.
Study finds not all hearing aids are created equal
Consumers with hearing loss might think they are saving significantly more by purchasing over- the-counter hearing aids, but they most likely will be disappointed – or could be taking risks – when purchasing such aids, according to MSU research.
Birdsong not just for the birds
Switch on the mike, start the recording, the stage is set for the local fauna! Computer scientists from the University of Bonn, in conjunction with the birdsong archives of Berlin's Humboldt University, have developed a kind of 'Big Brother' for birds.
Female concave-eared frogs draw mates with ultrasonic calls
Most female frogs don’t call; most lack or have only rudimentary vocal cords. A typical female selects a mate from a chorus of males and then –silently – signals her beau. But the female concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, has a more direct method of declaring her interest: She emits a high-pitched chirp that to the human ear sounds like that of a bird. This is one of several unusual frog-related findings reported this week in the journal
Nature.
Young songbirds babble before they learn to sing
Young songbirds babble before they can mimic an adult’s song, much like their human counterparts. Now, in work that offers insights into how birds—and perhaps people—learn new behaviors, MIT scientists have found that immature and adult birdsongs are driven by two separate brain pathways, rather than one pathway that slowly matures. The work is reported in the May 2 issue of
Science.
Rare example of co-operative behaviour in Nature
Soldiers on sentry duty in hostile territory keep in regular radio contact with their colleagues to assure them that all is well and that they are safe to carry on their manoeuvres.
Juvenile Squirrels Need Some Stress Hormone to Learn
Tests on the influence that a stress-related hormone has on learning in ground squirrels could have an impact on understanding how it influences human learning, according to a University of Chicago researcher.