Native to Madagascar, Crossleyia tenebrosa is a distinctive yellow-throated songbird. Three were spotted in a rainforest in the northeast of the island, but in an unexpected location. – writes the BBC’s Tusumani magazine.
The ground-dwelling birds were in dense vegetation near a rocky river – perhaps a good location for finding caterpillars and insects.
“If Crossleyia tenebrosa has always preferred areas near rivers, this may help explain why the species has eluded attention for so long.” – says John Mittermeier, ornithologist of the American Bird Conservancy, who managed to photograph the rare bird.
The sighting of Crossleyia tenebrosar comes just over a year after it was named a top 10 bird on the Lost Bird Search List. (“Finding Lost Birds”) – a collaboration between the American Bird Conservancy, BirdLife International (an international bird conservation society dealing with the protection of birds and their habitats), and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (Cornell University with Nature Conservancy and its educational institution) and is supported by data from its eBird platform.
Although Crossleyia tenebrosa’s rainforest home is officially protected, Birding Trip found that much of the forest has been converted to vanilla plantations, shrinking the birds’ natural habitat.
(Source: BBC Science: https://www.bbc.com/)
