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Independence, MO —
For years people have been clearing tropical rainforests in South America and other parts of the southern world for all sorts of reasons. According to the Rainforest Action Network, we are losing more than an acre and a half of rainforest every second. That’s an area larger than all five boroughs of New York City every day – and twice the size of Florida every year!
Although, tropical rainforests cover just 2 percent of the Earth’s land surface, these amazing habitats are home to two-thirds of the planet’s living species. That is pretty tough to even imagine! What else is amazing is that nearly half of all medicinal compounds we use every day come from plants indigenous to the tropical rainforest. It is believed that the cure to AIDS and most cancers will be unlocked within one or more of the thousands of species found in the rainforest.
Did you ever think a new bird species would be discovered within your lifetime? How about the announcement of three new species within a month?
According to the July 2012 edition of The Auk, the official publication of the American Ornithologists’ Union, four young college graduates were scouting the Andes Mountains of Peru in 2008 when they, “encountered a barbet of the genus Capito with unique plumage characters in a mixed species flock at 1,222 m. The barbet resembled the Scarlet-banded Barbet (Capito wallacei) which had never been seen away from its type locality in the Cordillera Azul, 440 km to the north.” They added, “…Because of the logistical difficulties, further work at this locality was not feasible.” They continued their search at a new camp and, “… on 31 October 2008, the field team found the new barbet at the upper Rio Shinipo locality and spent the subsequent 6 days making ecological and behavioral observations.” After comparing their specimens with those of the known barbet earlier mentioned, the Scarlet-banded barbet (C. wallacei), the young scientists declared they were, “…determined to represent a distinct species ...”
I was doing the research on this bird when I discovered that two more bird species have just been announced. Two new species of owls have been discovered in the Philippines by a researcher from Michigan State University. This news is announced in another ornithological periodical, the current issue of The Forktail, The Journal of Asian Ornithology, which reports that the discovery occurred nearly 15 years ago and has taken years to confirm.
For years people have been clearing tropical rainforests in South America and other parts of the southern world for all sorts of reasons. According to the Rainforest Action Network, we are losing more than an acre and a half of rainforest every second. That’s an area larger than all five boroughs of New York City every day – and twice the size of Florida every year!
Although, tropical rainforests cover just 2 percent of the Earth’s land surface, these amazing habitats are home to two-thirds of the planet’s living species. That is pretty tough to even imagine! What else is amazing is that nearly half of all medicinal compounds we use every day come from plants indigenous to the tropical rainforest. It is believed that the cure to AIDS and most cancers will be unlocked within one or more of the thousands of species found in the rainforest.
Did you ever think a new bird species would be discovered within your lifetime? How about the announcement of three new species within a month?
According to the July 2012 edition of The Auk, the official publication of the American Ornithologists’ Union, four young college graduates were scouting the Andes Mountains of Peru in 2008 when they, “encountered a barbet of the genus Capito with unique plumage characters in a mixed species flock at 1,222 m. The barbet resembled the Scarlet-banded Barbet (Capito wallacei) which had never been seen away from its type locality in the Cordillera Azul, 440 km to the north.” They added, “…Because of the logistical difficulties, further work at this locality was not feasible.” They continued their search at a new camp and, “… on 31 October 2008, the field team found the new barbet at the upper Rio Shinipo locality and spent the subsequent 6 days making ecological and behavioral observations.” After comparing their specimens with those of the known barbet earlier mentioned, the Scarlet-banded barbet (C. wallacei), the young scientists declared they were, “…determined to represent a distinct species ...”
I was doing the research on this bird when I discovered that two more bird species have just been announced. Two new species of owls have been discovered in the Philippines by a researcher from Michigan State University. This news is announced in another ornithological periodical, the current issue of The Forktail, The Journal of Asian Ornithology, which reports that the discovery occurred nearly 15 years ago and has taken years to confirm.
“Announcing the finding of a single bird is rare enough. But the discovery of two new bird species in a single paper is so rare that Rasmussen and the other researchers couldn’t recall the last time it happened,” Michigan State University said in a statement.
The first owl, the Camiguin hawk-owl, is said to be found only in Camiguin Sur. The second new discovery was the Cebu hawk-owl. This owl was thought to be extinct due to deforestation. Believe me, both of these birds look like owls – at least from the sketches. They do not look like hawks, as the names infer.
All in all, it has been a very busy month in the bird world and it took more than a couple of bird-brains to locate, study, and realize there were some species of birds among us we did not know about before. Pretty cool stuff! I’m glad those parts of the rainforest were still intact for the birds. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could keep it that way.
