BIRDER 'SHAKING WITH EXCITEMENT' AFTER REDISCOVERY OF RARE FLYCATCHER

                                                                          

Team leader David Ascanio's impressive photo of  the 'Shrek-coloured' bird  

The tiny Urich's Tyrannulet, a species of flycatcher,  was first identified  as an individual species in 1899. Since then, it had only been documented three times. But on May 11 this year it was again detected - and photographed - by an expedition led  by ornithologist David Ascanio and supported by American Bird Conservancy. This is ABC's press release, issued this week, on an important rediscovery.

There have only been three confirmed sightings of the small flycatcher since it was first described in 1899. 

The second sighting was in the 1940s and the third in 2005. 

With so few records, the Urich's Tyrannulet is one of the most poorly known birds in South America.

With its cloud forest habitat being cleared for agriculture, scientists fear this endemic species could soon be at risk of going extinct. 

The expedition team was able to prove its continued existence, capturing the first clear photos of the tyrannulet and the first-ever recording of its call, shedding light on its behaviour and ecology.

“It's like a tiny Shrek,” says Ascanio of the olive-green bird, which is similar in colour to the popular movie character. “It's not as striking as many of the other birds in the same forest, and it has a shrill call, but if it's there it means that the forest is healthy.I

"It's aligned with the presence of all these other wonderful forest birds and other species. I was shaking with excitement when we first saw it!”

The mountains in north-eastern Venezuela where the tyrannulet lives are part of a unique ecosystem home to plants and animals found nowhere else. 

Among these are birds such as the White-tipped Quetzal, Handsome Fruiteater, and the endangered Venezuelan Sylph, all of which the team observed in the forest with the tyrannulet.

For researchers at American Bird Conservancy and Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, data from the  global eBird database initially helped to bring the Urich's Tyrannulet to their attention.

 “Urich's Tyrannulet was one of only sixteen species of birds in all of South America that no one had reported in eBird in the past 10 years, so it immediately stood out to us as one of the most poorly known birds on the continent,” says John C. Mittermeier, Director of Threatened Species Outreach at ABC. 

“Considering that it is also endangered and that much of the habitat in its small range has disappeared since it was last seen, trying to find the tyrannulet and confirm that it had not gone extinct was an important conservation priority for us.” 

The bird had no sound recordings in the database and only a single blurry photograph, taken by Ascanio in 2005.

Thanks to  his team's discovery, some of these knowledge gaps have now been filled. 

For the first time, we know for certain what the Urich's Tyrannulet looks and sounds like. 

Ascanio and his team have archived their observations and media in Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library where it is publicly available for research and conservation efforts. 

Along with the new findings on where this bird lives, this information can help conservation groups begin taking steps needed to protect it.

* American Bird Conservancy is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With an emphasis on achieving results and working in partnership, it seeks to take  on the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation. Find us on abcbirds.org, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ABCbirds).