2021-08-08 19:13:57
Discovering a new species of bird is a great challenge for an ornithologist, says our guest, Borja Milá, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN–CSIC). The proof of this has been the years of work that he and his team have had to carry out until they discovered the Satin Woodpecker (Melanocharis citreola), the name of a new species of bird that inhabits New Guinea.
The team of researchers that made the discovery had to travel to the northwest of the island of New Guinea where the Doberai peninsula is located, also known as “Bird’s Head” because its shape resembles the head of a bird. with open beak. The isthmus that connects the peninsula with the rest of the island, also known as “Cuello de Pájaro” is home to a unique landscape of steep-sided limestone karst mountains that hosts an impressive variety of ecological niches that have been little explored. There are the Kumawa mountains, with a maximum altitude of barely 1,600 meters but made up of rocks riddled with edges, making it very difficult to move around and where there are not even a few flat meters to put up a tent – Borja comments during the interview. Despite the difficulties, Borja Milá and his team have visited and explored the place twice, as part of large scientific expeditions, in 2014 and 2017. The expeditions were organized by the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and the Museo Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB) of Indonesia from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Cibinong, Indonesia.
During the first visit, in November 2014, the researchers spent four days at altitudes of 1,100 and 1,200 meters, in very difficult conditions because the area has never been inhabited and lacks trails to ascend. Added to these inconveniences, in the elevated areas, was a total absence of streams and other surface waters, which forced the scientists to carry supplies of water along with the research material. During the time that they remained in the place, they observed the birds in the area and set up mist nets, nets specially designed to capture birds in flight. On the last day of their stay, luck smiled on the researchers because among the captured birds there was a specimen, smaller than a sparrow, of the genus Melanocharis, which, due to its characteristics, already pointed to the possibility that it was a new species. species.
To further explore this find and obtain additional specimens, Borja Milá joined the second expedition in October-November 2017. On that occasion, the team had better equipment and logistics, as well as means to collect rainwater, which made it possible to stay in the place for 22 days at levels above 1000 m. They deployed the mist nets and managed to capture three new specimens of the species under study. Once the pertinent genetic tests were carried out, it was possible to verify that the three were males, one adult and two juveniles.
Upon return from the expedition, the research continued in the laboratory. The scientists analyzed the ADN of the captured specimens and compared it with the genomes of others of the family Malanocharitidae. Results obtained from extensive phylogenetic analyzes based on genomic data confirmed that the Kumawa specimens represent a new, previously undescribed species in this New Guinea endemic genus.
Description of the holotype (translated from the original article):
“Adult male. Bill and legs black. Dark brown irises. Plumage coloration: crown, back and rump iridescent blue-black; throat, breast, belly and vent satin bright bleached lemon yellow, with an especially pronounced lemon wash on throat, breast and belly, paler on flanks; white underwing feathers; sharp malar line separating blue-black face from white throat; thigh feathers black, contrasting with white belly; wing feathers black, edged white on primaries and secondaries; tail feathers completely iridescent bluish-black, except for the outermost tail feathers, which have the proximal 80% of the outer vane white (including the rachis of the feather), with the distal 3-4 mm of the white patch tapering diagonally towards the outer edge of the palette. Enlarged testicles.”
Reference:
Borja Mila, Jade Brussels, Guillermo Friis, Katerina Sam, Hidayat Ashari, Christopher Thebaud. A new, undescribed species of Melanocharis berrypecker from western New Guinea and the evolutionary history of the family Melanocharitidae Ibis, DOI: 10.1111/place.12981
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