The mystery bird was certainly distinctive: dark brown, red bill, red legs, call like a trumpet, pretty hopeless at flying. You couldn’t miss it if you knew it was there.
Many of the 8 500 residents of Calayan, an island in the remote Babuyan group in the northern Philippines, knew it was there and occasionally caught it by mistake in their chicken traps.
But the wider world had never heard of it, and it did not feature in even the best ornithological library.
Now the Calayan rail (Gallirallus calayanensis) is being hailed as a previously unknown species, and moves are afoot to try to ensure it does not become extinct as soon as it has been discovered.
Carmella Española, a member of an expedition made up of Filipino researchers and experts from the conservation group BirdLife International, stumbled on the bird as she walked through a clearing on the island and heard un-familiar calls. Then she saw four birds in the undergrowth.
”She watched two birds cross the trail and begin feeding,” says a BirdLife International report which captures the excitement of the discovery. ”They appeared to be the same size as the barred rail, a common species on the island.
”Carmella took notes and photographs, and recorded the calls. But her account of the sighting had Des Allen, an expedition member and expert on oriental birds, completely stumped.”
Allen went to the same area the next day and heard unfamiliar ”loud, rasping trumpeting calls”, interspersed with the calls Española had recorded.
”He played back her recording and a bird answered it,” the report says.
Allen realised the birds were an unknown species, recorded them on video and showed his colleagues.
Later sightings indicated that it was common in the area and well known to islanders, who called it a ”piding”.
BirdLife International estimates there are up to 200 pairs of rail on the island but fears for their future because they appear to live only in a small part of forest on limestone areas.
”Work to build a road around the island, and from Poblacion to the centre, has already begun,” says the report. ”These roads may encourage the spread of settlements, and people will bring introduced predators — cats, dogs and rats — along with them.”
Genevieve Broad, the co-leader of the expedition, said: ”I felt sure the Babuyan Islands would hold some interesting discoveries, but I didn’t expect to find a totally new species. I hope this will bring the recognition these islands deserve as an important site of biological diversity.”
Her co-leader, Filipino conservationist Carl Oliveros, added: ”Most species have been documented, but this shows there is still a lot to be revealed to us. There may be other islands that have been overlooked by scientists. Flightless birds are the most vulnerable. Based on a history of extinction, its future doesn’t look that bright.” – Guardian Unlimited Â