'Extinct' Myanmar bird rediscovered after 73 years

A bird long thought to have gone extinct has been rediscovered in Myanmar after a team of scientists used a recording of the species’ distinctive call to track it down. The Jerdon’s Babbler (chrysomma altirostre altirostre) – a small brown bird similar in size to a house sparrow – was last spotted in Myanmar in 1941. But scientists found multiple birds nesting in a small area of grassland in Myanmar’s central Bago region 10 months ago, according to a report published in the latest edition of Birding Asia.

We played the sound recordings and one of the birds came up from the reed beds. Like many song birds in reed beds you hardly ever see them, they only come out to defend their territory when they hear a territorial call.

Frank Rheindt, from the National University of Singapore

Further searches over the next two days uncovered more birds allowing researchers to obtain blood samples and photographs. Researchers warned the bird’s survival is still far from guaranteed given pressure on Myanmar’s few remaining grasslands. Colin Poole, director of Wildlife Conservation Society’s regional hub in Singapore, said work needed to be done to identify the remaining habitats and protect them.

Science Jerdon's Babbler