A BIRD species discovered in northern Myanmar last year by a joint Myanmar-United States expedition team was confirmed to be a species new to science, said a member of the team last week.

Dr Aung Khin, managing director of Myanmar Gateway Ecotours Travel & Tours Company Ltd and a member of the expedition team, said scientists have named the bird the ‘Naung Mung Scimitar Babbler’ or Jobouilleia naungmungensis, after the town closest to where it was found.

He said it took several months to scientifically identify the bird, as the specimens had to be taken to the United States for extensive examination.

‘’ I was very happy to hear the news (through email last month) that an expedition I arranged has achieved such success,’’ said Dr Aung Khin, whose company often organises expeditions for international scientists.

He said the aim of the trip was to inventory the poorly-known avifauna of the pre-montane temperate rain forest, which located in the extreme northern portion of Kachin State, more that 1000 kilometres north of Yangon and just beyond Kakarborizi National Park.

The seven-member expedition stayed there throughout February, 2004. Two ornithologists from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in the United States, Dr John Rappole and Dr Swen Renner, and a Myanmar ornithologist, U Nay Myo Shwe were among the team members.

On February 6, the team caught two Scimitar-babblers that appeared to be a species of Jobouilleia, and then another one in the same vicinity two days later.
A report to be published soon in a well-known science journal says: ‘’ This was the first reported sighting of Jobouilleia in Myanmar.”

The Myanmar specimens were thoroughly examined at the US National Museum, the British Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences before it was confirmed this is a new species of Jobouilleia.

The Naung Mung Scimitar-Babbler has the long, curved bill, long legs, toes and nails and relatively short tail and wings found in other Jobouilleia species.
However, it has a longer bill and a single black malar stripe.

The bird’s habitat is presumed to be limited to the pre-montane rain forests of northern Myanmar, and similar habitats may extend westward into regions of Myanmar and Assam, India, and to the east into Yunnan Province, China.