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Tuesday, August 16, 2005

New Species: Calayan Rail


Photo Credit: Des Allen, Birdlife.org

Here is an exerpt from a BBC News article from 2004. Access the full article here

New bird spotted in Philippines
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent

An international expedition has found a bird species new to science on a remote island in the northern Philippines.

The team of Filipino and UK researchers discovered the bird, a rail, living by a stream in the forests of Calayan.

They think the birds number only about 200 pairs at most, and since they are found nowhere else they might soon be at risk from development pressures.

They say the Calayan rail is flightless "or nearly so": it belongs to a global family including coots and moorhens.