This bird hadn’t been documented by scientists since 1882. Then they captured video of it in Papua New Guinea
By Zoe Sottile, CNN
A bird thought to be extinct for 140 years has been rediscovered in the forests of Papua New Guinea. The black-naped pheasant-pigeon was documented by scientists for the first and last time in 1882.
Rediscovering the bird required an expedition team to spend a grueling month on Fergusson, a rugged island in the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago off eastern Papua New Guinea where the bird was originally documented. The team consisted of local staff at the Papua New Guinea National Museum as well as international scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy.
Fergusson Island is covered in rugged, mountainous terrain – making the expedition especially challenging for the scientists. Many members of the community told the team that they hadn’t seen the black-naped pheasant-pigeon in decades, says the news release.
But just two days before the researchers were scheduled to leave the island, a camera trap captured footage of the exceptionally rare bird.
“After a month of searching, seeing those first photos of the pheasant-pigeon felt like finding a unicorn,” John C. Mittermeier, director of the lost birds program at American Bird Conservancy and co-leader of the expedition, said in the release. “It is the kind of moment you dream about your entire life as a conservationist and birdwatcher.”
The black-naped pheasant-pigeon is a large, ground-dwelling pigeon with a broad tail, according to the release. Scientists still know little about the species and believe the population is small and decreasing.
Referenced Story with pictures and captions:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/19/world/black-naped-pheasant-pigeon-scn-trnd/index.html?
AR #128
Bird King
by Jonathon Perrin
