NEPAL: Extinct Bird Rediscovered

A species which was on the list of extinct birds in Nepal has been found in the hilly region of Chitwan district recently.

The bird “red-faced liocichla” with the scientific name “Liocichla phoenicea” of Leiothrichidae family was presumed to be extinct in Nepal. A joint team from the Bird Education Society and the Nepalese Ornithological Union has found the bird at Chisapanitar, Dahakhani VDC in the district.

Ornithological studies since 1838 were unable to find any red-faced liocichla in Nepal, said the former president of Bird Education Society Basu Bidari.

The red-faced liocichla and eight other species of birds have been listed among the extinct birds of Nepal in research projects after 1970.

The bird measures about 23 centimetres in length. The scarlet wings, neck and the ventral part of the tail dominate the brown-coloured body. The male and female liocichla resemble each other. The bird is found in the tropical forests of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, and Myanmar.

Now, after the rediscovery of liocichla, Chitwan district has become a home to 631 species of birds among total 878 species of birds found in Nepal.

Dr Hem Sagar Baral, Tika Ram Giri, Basu Bidari, Badri Chaudhary, Bishnu Mahato, Raju Tamang, Som Bahadur Tamang, Ramgir Chaudhary, Phuleshwar Chaudhary and Rupendra Karmacharya were members of the team which rediscovered the supposedly extinct bird