A new species of bald-headed song bird has been discovered in a remote region of Laos.
The bizarre creature has been dubbed the “bare-faced bulbul” because of the lack of feathers on its face and head.
It is the first new species of bulbul, a family of around 130 species, found in Asia in more than 100 years.
The thrush-sized bird is olive coloured with a light-coloured breast and a featherless pink face. A narrow line of hair-like feathers extends down the crown of the head.
The bird was found in a little-visited area of sparse forest on rugged limestone outcrops.
“Its apparent restriction to rather inhospitable habitat helps to explain why such an extraordinary bird with conspicuous habits and a distinctive call has remained unnoticed for so long,” said Australian expert Dr Iain Woxvold from the University of Melbourne.
Dr Woxvold and colleagues from the US Wildlife Conservation Society made the discovery on an expedition funded by the mining company MMG, which extracts gold and copper in the region.
They describe the find today in the Oriental Bird Club journal, Forktail.
A unique striped rabbit and the last surviving member of an otherwise extinct family of rodents, also new to science, were found in the same area in 2002 and 1999.
Agencies