Bolivian expedition discovers 1,000th bird species

8 July 2016 / Morgan Erickson-Davis

Expedition researchers have found thousands of species in Madidi National Park – and even uncovered some new ones.

Madidi National Park is situated in northern Bolivia and is considered one of the most biodiverse protected areas in the world.

Identidad Madidi is a two-year biological expedition currently surveying the flora and fauna of Madidi National Park.

The 1,000th bird species – a dusky-tailed flatbill (Ramphotrigon fuscicauda) - was discovered through a recording of its call, and came as a surprise to the expedition's ornithologist.

An ongoing expedition in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park has recorded its 1,000th bird species, highlighting the park as a hotspot of avian biodiversity. The park is thought to contain more than 10 percent of all the world’s bird species.

Spanning 19,000 square kilometers from Amazon lowlands to Andean peaks, Madidi National Park’s many ecosystems bring with them a huge array of wildlife, making it one of the world’s most biodiverse protected areas. However, it had never been systematically surveyed before now.

Indentidad Madidi is a two-year biological expedition involving dozens of researchers from primarily Bolivian institutions. Kicking off last June, the project a little over halfway finished exploring the many ecosystems of Madidi National Park, which lies along northern Bolivia’s border with Peru. Along the way, the team has made a number of discoveries, including seven new frog, lizard, and catfish species. The researchers have also recorded around 950 butterfly species — which means the park has more kinds of butterflies than Canada and the U.S. together.

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