“Is that really a grey-bellied wren babbler?” That was the niggling doubt for a bunch of birders who had gone looking for the avian specimen.
There are some amateur-yet-serious birders — an informal term for birdwatchers — who would go that extra mile to see a bird.
Just that the extra mile here meant going from the South to a distant Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast.
Yes, this is the story of how an intrepid team in the quest for a rarely-spotted bird led to the discovery of an entirely new species.
This is the story of how the group went from South India to the Northeast and, despite numerous obstacles, documented what they now call the Lisu wren babbler.
But what triggered this quest in the first place?
Grey-bellied wren babbler on the bucket list
Endemic to Myanmar, some grey-bellied wren babblers are also found in Thailand and China. Except for a single report in 1988, the bird has never been seen in India.
In a joint expedition by members of the Zoological Survey of India, the Bombay Natural History Society, and the Smithsonian Institution, two specimens were collected in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh in 1988.
Though the specimens were initially identified as the Naga wren babbler, they were re-identified as the grey-bellied wren babbler in 2005.
“In 2005, the grey-bellied wren babbler was included in the first edition of the Birds of South Asia, written by ornithologist Pamela Rasmussen,” said J Praveen, a former IT professional now associated with Bird Count India, a Bengaluru-based informal group that coordinates citizen science activities.
With the re-identification by Rasmussen in 2005, it found a place in India’s bird list.
Naturally, the grey-bellied wren babbler made its way into the bucket list of some bird-watching enthusiasts.
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A quest to see the hard-to-spot bird
“Our interest in the grey-bellied wren babbler increased last year when Bird Count India ran a web series on the birds in India that are difficult to spot. This bird was sixth or so on the list,” said Praveen. “Since it has been rarely spotted, we decided to go.”
United by the quest, Bengaluru-based IT professional Dipu Karuthedathu, Chennai-based businessman Subramanian Sankar, Bengaluru-based pilot Hemraj Duraiswami, and Thiruvananthapuram-based Praveen set out for Arunachal Pradesh.
“Though we knew each other and have birded in different combinations, this was the first time we all went together,” said Praveen.
They roped in Yolisa Yobin, an ecotourism operator and guide of Gandhigram in the Changlang district, and Rahul Baruah of Miao, to help them with the trek.
On the trail
The team set out in March to climb the Mugaphi peak in Arunachal Pradesh. They drove through treacherous mountain roads and trudged the slippery forest floor through pouring rain.
“We didn’t climb the peak because of the rain. There are two base camps that trekkers use. We sighted the bird first at an altitude of about 2,000 m when we were going to the second base camp,” said Karuthedathu.
During consecutive sightings, they noticed the differences. “The belly was not grey, but whitish. We thought the perceived colour difference could be because we were seeing it in the understory and the visibility was poor since it was raining,” said Karuthedathu.
“The calls were also different. We thought it could be some individual variations. Since some bird species can have multiple calls, we thought that could be the reason it didn’t sound like the grey-bellied wren babbler,” he added.
“We saw six or seven male birds and a female. Their sweet song sounded similar to that of the Naga wren babbler, but unlike the grey-bellied wren babbler’s trilling song,” Praveen added.
A whole new species!
The team discussed among themselves how the bird looked like the grey-bellied wren babbler, but had a white belly and a different call.
“It didn’t exactly match the other types, like the Naga wren babbler, which is found further east around Nagaland, for instance,” said Karuthedathu. “Putting our observations together, we knew that this was a different bird and then we became really excited.”
When they felt that it could be a different bird, they tried to document and record calls, and take photos and videos as much as possible, despite the rain.
The fact that the birds kept flitting – except when singing – made the task of documenting them all the more difficult.
Returning from the trip, and with access to the internet, they analysed their findings and compared the bird with existing species.
They uploaded their observations, photos, and videos on the e-Bird portal and also shared them with birders and ornithologists so that they could shed some light on the findings.
They sought the help of museums for photos of specimens, including those of the single specimen in the Smithsonian Museum.
“It took us nearly two months to confirm our assumption that this was a new kind of wren babbler. By May-end, we were confident and decided to publish our findings,” said Karuthedathu.
The paper about their discovery was recently published in Indian BIRDS, a peer-reviewed South Asian ornithology journal.
The team recommended further molecular and genetic analysis. “But there is sufficient evidence to say that the grey-bellied wren babbler found in Myanmar does not occur in India,” said Praveen. “What was identified as a grey-bellied wren babbler in 2005 based on that single specimen is not one.”
Establishing and naming a species scientifically requires genetic material from these birds to be compared with the other wren babbler species. However, the team has already given the bird an English name: Lisu wren babbler.
“We found the bird in a community forest maintained by the Lisu community. So we named it after the Lisus,” said Praveen.
Why does a new bird species matter?
There is a palpable excitement among birding and biodiversity enthusiasts when it comes to such discoveries. But what does the discovery mean for the common man?
“Indian forests harbour a lot of hidden natural wealth. The rich biodiversity that we inherited is something we can be proud of. Whether it’s a tree or a bird or a butterfly, we should all try to conserve. This discovery gives an additional reason to conserve our biodiversity,” said Karuthedathu.
According to P Jeganathan, a scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation, one could be philosophical about it.
“Any species — irrespective of whether it is newly discovered — is a part of this ecosystem and plays an important role in binding this ecosystem. The discovery of a new species is exciting for science. And science is good for people in general and not just for birders and naturalists. So it is not only important for a birder but also for every human being on this earth,” he said.
For everyone, though, infrastructure development is a cause for concern.
“The local people can take pride in having a species like this and can use it as a mascot against the so-called development that threatens the habitat,” said Jeganathan. “They can protest against such development projects — which really do not benefit them — so that the habitat of such a rare and endangered species won’t be destroyed.”
The utilitarian — though reluctant — point of view of Jeganathan is that the discovery would attract more naturalists and birders and it would benefit the local people by way of bird tourism.
The team that discovered the Lisu wren babbler also hopes that this will spur the local community to
conserve the mountainous habitat.
