Elusive new bird discovered in China

Date:May 1, 2015

Source:Michigan State University

Summary:An international team of scientists has discovered a new bird in China. The new bird, the Sichuan bush warbler, resides in five mountainous provinces in central China. The bird has shunned the limelight by hiding in grassy, scrubby vegetation over the years. However, its distinctive song eventually gave it away, said an integrative biologist on the team.

Credit: Laojun Shan

A Michigan State University professor was part of an international team of scientists that has discovered a new bird in China.

The new bird, the Sichuan bush warbler, resides in five mountainous provinces in central China. The discovery, shared in the current issue of Avian Research, notes that the bird shunned the limelight by hiding in grassy, scrubby vegetation over the years. However, its distinctive song eventually gave it away, said Pamela Rasmussen, MSU integrative biologist, assistant curator at the MSU Museum and co-author on the paper.

"The Sichuan bush warbler is exceedingly secretive and difficult to spot as its preferred habitat is dense brush and tea plantations," said Rasmussen, who has helped document and scientifically describe 10 new species of birds. "However, it distinguishes itself thanks to its distinctive song that consists of a low-pitched drawn-out buzz, followed by a shorter click, repeated in series."

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