Burma tallies 1,114 bird species, 20 previously unrecorded

YANGON, Burma (AP) -€” Burmese bird enthusiasts have counted 1,114 bird species including 20 undocumented species between 2010 and 2014, seven of which are endemic to the country.

One of the surveyors, Thet Zaw Naing, said the Great Frigate and the Pied Falconet are among 20 previously undocumented birds spotted during the four-year field survey by the Bird and Nature Society, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Flora and Fauna International and several other bird-enthusiast associations.

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'If you turned around and saw a pink-headed duck it would be like seeing... Elvis Presley'

By Kent and Sussex Courier | Posted: January 16, 2015

By Sarah Ward A BIRDWATCHER from Crowborough will embark on his fifth trip to Burma this week in memory of a friend who shared his dream of finding a bird believed to be extinct since the 1960s.

Richard Thorn, 51, who visited the country last January on his quest to find a pink-headed duck deemed "probably extinct", will leave on Friday to continue his search which began 16 years ago.

He will visit the town of Shwegu, in Burma's Kachin State in memory of his friend Tony Htin Hla, chairman of The Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association, who believed the ducks may still be living in lakes bordering the town before his death from liver cancer.

Mr Thorn, an ambulance care assistant, said: "Last time I went was about one year ago – the area we went to had never been surveyed before because it was so remote.

"My theory is if you have one wetland that somebody says they saw a pink-headed duck, if you look there and don't find it, it doesn't mean it is extinct.

"Let's say it is not there, for safety reasons it could have relocated but it is a totally different thing – it means everyone is looking in the wrong place."

Mr Thorn first started his quest when working at Hoopers department store in Tunbridge Wells.

He visited Tunbridge Wells library on a lunch break and picked up a book, which described the fabled bird.


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Bagan’s rare birds need protection

Four rare bird species native to central Burma’s Bagan region are at risk of their habitat being destroyed, according to ornithologists.

During a speech at an eco-tourism workshop in Rangoon, bird expert Thein Aung, from the Myanmar Bird and Nature Society, called for greater protection for the birds of Bagan.

He said four rare bird species that live in Bagan’s archaeological zone — the White-throated Blabber, Lerdon’s Minivet, the Burmese Bushlark and the Hooded Treepie — are being threatened by an increase of tourists flocking to see the ancient temples.

“Visitors who come to Bagan on cultural tours are switching to bird watching as all four endemic bird species live in the archaeological zone,” he said.

There has been an increase in calls from archaeologists to preserve the crumbling temples, but Thein Aung believes the same protection should be afforded to the birds that live among the heritage sites.

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