JAN 18, 2018, 5:00 AM SGT
Environment Correspondent
With its crimson head and cloak
of glossy black feathers, the Rote myzomela is dressed in the colours of a
flamenco dancer.
But it was not the diminutive
bird's striking appearance that drew the attention of scientists from Singapore
and the region. It was its call.
To the layman, the bird's call
sounds like an unremarkable series of chirps. But for the researchers, it was a
tell-tale sign that the Rote myzomela was a new species of honeyeater.
It was discovered on Pulau Rote,
one of the southernmost islands of the Indonesian archipelago.
Ornithologist Philippe Verbelen,
one of the scientists behind the discovery, said: "Most bird species have
a distinctive song that is unique to that species."
Mr Verbelen, from environmental
conservation group Greenpeace, worked with Assistant Professor Frank Rheindt
from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and researchers from the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences on identifying the bird.
Their findings were published
last month in the science journal Treubia.
Although it was only recently
confirmed to be a new species, the bird was spotted by Australian ornithologist
Ron Johnstone in the 1990s.
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