Bird missing for 172 years observed in the rainforest of Borneo: it was believed extinct

Known as the black-browed "chatterbox" (Malacocincla perspicillata), this creature was discovered in the rainforests of Borneo.

It was believed to have been extinct for nearly two centuries. And perhaps this was the luck of a bird that for decades represented a chimera for the scientific world. Known as the black-browed "chatterbox" (Malacocincla perspicillata), this creature was recently discovered in the rainforests of Borneo.

The Black-browed Chiaccierone, widely regarded by experts as the "greatest enigma of Indonesian ornithology", was unexpectedly rediscovered in the rainforests of Borneo more than 172 years after it was first seen. It was accidentally identified by two men who, after having photographed it, contacted local ornithologists.

Muhammad Suranto and Muhammad Rizky Fauzan, both residents of Indonesia's South Kalimantan province, were harvesting forest products in an area not far from where they live when they accidentally came across an unknown bird species. They managed to take some photos and then made contact with some groups that deal with birdwatching and species protection. After a series of consultations with ornithological experts from Indonesia and across the region, the initial prediction was confirmed. It was indeed a specimen of Malacocincla perspicillata.

“It's surreal to know you've found some kind of bird deemed extinct by experts. When we found it, we didn't expect it to be that special - we thought it was just another animal that we simply hadn't seen before, ”said Rizky Fauzan.

The bird was described by the well-known French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850, a description which in turn was based on a specimen collected in the 1895s by the German geologist and naturalist Carl ALM Schwaner, during his expeditions to the East Indies. Since then, no sightings of other specimens have been reported. The island where the bird was first noticed was also clear: it was thought to be Java but it was not until XNUMX that the Swiss ornithologist Johann Büttikofer pointed out that Schwaner was in Borneo at the time of its discovery.

"The sensational discovery confirms that the Black-browed Chiaccierone hails from southeastern Borneo, ending the centuries-old confusion about its origins,"

said Panji Gusti Akbar of Birdpacker, the Indonesian bird conservation group, lead author of an article outlining the details of the new rediscovery.

Newly discovered but already at risk from deforestation

Its habitat is in fact threatened by agriculture, by deforestation even within protected areas, by rubber and palm oil plantations and also by fires caused by drought.

“Now we also know what it really looks like: the photographed bird showed many differences from the only known specimen, in particular the color of the iris, beak and leg. These three parts of a bird's body are known to lose their tint and are often artificially colored during the taxidermy process. The discovery also confirms that this species remains existing despite massive deforestation and habitat conversion in this little-known part of Borneo. There is therefore a high possibility that it is seriously threatened by habitat loss ”.

Bird missing for 172 years observed in the rainforest of Borneo: it was believed extinct

The rediscovery of the Black-browed Chatter demonstrates how little is known about Indonesia's sprawling birdlife, the largest in Asia, with over 1.700 species found on the archipelago's many little-known and visited islands. But if on the one hand the discovery is of great importance, on the other it underlines the urgency of protecting the species that risk disappearing forever due to deforestation, driven by human interests.

"It is troubling to think that when the Black-browed Babbler was last seen, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was not even published and the now extinct Passenger Pigeon was still among the most common birds in the world," said Mr. Ding Li Yong, Flyways Coordinator for BirdLife Asia and co-author of the study. "Who knows what other riches are found in the rainforest of Borneo - especially in the Indonesian part of the island - and how important it is to protect them for future generations."

We can only hope that its "home" will not be destroyed and that, as it has done so far, the bird will be able to survive and reproduce without human disturbance.

Sources of reference: Birdlife International, BirdingAsia