Nepalese scientists have recorded a new subspecies of bird at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) of east Nepal.
The bird was first recorded by Ornithologist and Chairperson of Nepal Rare Birds Committee (NRBC).The bird was identified as Rufous-vented
Prinia bringing Nepal’s total bird list to 862 species. The bird is known as Prinia burnesii to the scientific community. The new taxon from Nepal is referred to as Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia Prinia burnesii nipalensis.
The other two subspecies of Rufous-vented Prinia, the first one Prinia burnesii burnesii is found in Pakistan in the west along the tributaries of Indus River and adjacent Punjab in India, and the second Prinia burnesii cinerascens is found in Assam in the east along the Bramhaputra river systems and adjoining states of India and Bangladesh. The newly described bird shows somewhat intermediate characters between the two subspecies and appears to form a link between them, is found in the Ganges river systems which is the other major river system in the India subcontinent.
The adult of this new subspecies has overall olive-grey to light brown plumage. The head and nape are greyer compared to the browner back, wings and tail. In most individuals, there is faint whitish supercilium which reaches behind the eye. The head is densely streaked compared to back. On the back, the streakings are bolder compared to the ones in head. The juveniles are similar to adults but slightly less marked on the head and body. Light rufous undertail coverts were visible in one young bird caught. All birds seen and heard were located on grassland patches on small islands of the Koshi River. The grass species in the area included Saccharum spontaneum, S. arundinacea, Typha elephantine, and Phragmites karka. Sparsely dotted young sissoo Dalbergia sissoo trees and xeric bushes Casurina spps. were also present. They were absent in heavily disturbed grasslands adjacent to villages indicating their preference for less disturbed grasslands.
It is a resident breeding species and highly threatened in the country because of habitat loss and degradation. Future surveys might reveal its presence in grasslands in different parts of the country.
Conservationists in Nepal already listed the species as critically endangered for the country and emphasized as a candidate species for IUCN Red Data list.
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