Looks like Stijn’s bulbuls finally got themselves a new name.
The bulbul is bald. -That is a fact. -So what did they name it? “Bald Headed Bulbul.”
-I never would have guessed that …
The following article showed up in Yahoo’s Science section. Read it here.
As it turns out, the bird has been under observation by several scientists for a number of years. Apparently the project has been underway for almost 10 years and yet there was no mention of it until Stijn “accidentally” discovered the birds and annoced his find on the web.
Like Stijn mentioned, it’s sad that there are some ornithologists (or ornithological bodies) which prefer to keep their discoveries under wraps for such extended periods of time. I understand that it takes time to research and properly file the paperwork, but I also agree that more birders would be visiting Laos today had the discovery been announced earlier.
Birdwatching usually helps the local population as well as creates a level of awareness among locals to protect their national heritage. I think many people will agree with me when I say the Laotian people could use a helping hand.
The scientific data has been released and was made available in this year’s edition of forktail. See it here.
Congradualtions to Stijn De Win for uncovering this bird and sharing his find with us and to all those who worked so hard to glean all the needed information to classify the specimen.
I think you need to re-write this article, now that the paper has been published and it has become clear that bare-faced bulbul was not being suppressed from the masses for 10+ years!
It was seen a couple of times briefly and badly in the mid 1990s, and the observers had no idea what they were looking at (ie a new species, or the effects of an ecto-parasite or other infection causing “baldness”) and was then not seen again until December 2008 (almost simultaneously by Stijn, and by the authors of the paper).
There has been no suppression, just a lack of observer coverage in Laos (the bird does not seem to be rare where it does occur). Personally I’m quite impressed that the paper has been published so quickly (8 months from conclusive observations to publication is pretty quick in the world of scientific journals).
Gotta say thugh, if I was Stijn and I’d missed out on finding a species entirely new to science, Id feel pretty sick…but he’s found the bird at a new and exciting location, where it can be easily accessed by visiting birders (unlike the type locality).
You could be right Dave, perhaps the article I read (which I based these comments on) was misleading. -Either way, its good to see the offical paper published. True as well, that with few birders venturing into the area, that fact does lend to the argument of why its been hidden away from the masses for so many years.
Dave Gandy actually has some great photos of the new bulbul on his site, if anyone is interested in taking a look: http://electricbirding.blogspot.com/2009/08/bare-faced-bulbul-more-pictures.html
I think this whole case is a fantastic example of our collective lack of knowledge of birds in Laos – Stijn found his bulbul site after spending only a few days birding in the country…and the birds can be easily seen on a major road linking Laos and Vietnam, where my friends from Vientiane go for the odd weekend away, not deep in some obscure forest somewhere three days walk from the nearest road! Given that new mammals are still being described from Laos (eg the rabbit described a few years ago, and the rock rat that was only otherwise known from an 11 million years old fossil!!!) there is every chance of finding something else new there, or to find a lost species (I’m waiting for Stijn to rediscover white-eyed river martin on his next trip!!!!)