Cnn
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A bird thought to be extinct 140 years ago has been rediscovered in the forests of Papua New Guinea.
Scientists have documented the black pheasant pigeon the first and last time in 1882, according to a press release from the nonprofit Re:wild, which helped fund the research.
To rediscover the bird, the expedition team had to spend a grueling month on Ferguson Island in the rugged D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago off eastern Papua New Guinea, where the bird was originally documented. The team is made up of local staff from the National Museum of Papua New Guinea, as well as international scientists from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy.
Ferguson Island is covered in rugged and mountainous terrain, making expedition particularly challenging for scientists. Several community members told the team they hadn’t seen a necked pheasant in decades, the news release said.
But just two days before the researchers were due to leave the island, a camera trap captured footage of an extremely rare bird.
“After a month of searching, seeing these first images of pigeon pheasants felt like we’d found a rhinoceros,” said John C. Mittermeyer, director of the American Bird Conservancy’s Lost Bird Program and co-leader of the expedition. . “This is the moment you dream about your entire life as an environmentalist and bird watcher.”
According to the announcement, the black-boned pheasant pigeon is a large ground pigeon with a broad tail. Scientists still know little about this species and believe the population is small and declining.
The insights of local residents were instrumental in scientists tracking down the elusive bird.
Jason Gregg, a conservation biologist and co-leader of the expedition team, said in the release. “We became more confident in the bird’s local name ‘Auwo’ and felt we were getting closer to the black pheasant’s prime habitat.”
They placed a total of 12 camera traps on the slopes of Mount Kilcarran, the tallest mountain on the island. They placed eight more cameras in locations where local fishermen had previously reported seeing the bird.
A hunter named Augustin Gregory, who lives in the mountain village of Doda Onon, performed the last feat that helped scientists find the pheasant pigeon.
Gregory told the team he saw a black-headed pheasant in an area with “steep hills and valleys,” according to the news release. The characteristic calls of the bird were heard.
Then the expedition team set up the camera on a 3,200-foot ridge near the Kwama River above Doda Unun, the statement said. Finally, when their journey was over, they filmed the bird walking on the forest floor.
This discovery came as a shock to both scientists and the local community.
Serena Kitaluya, an environmentalist from Milne Bay, PNG, said in a news release. “Now they are looking forward to working with us to try to protect the pheasant.”
It is not yet clear how many black-winged pheasants are left, and the rugged terrain will make it difficult to determine their population. A two-week survey in 2019 failed to find any evidence of the bird, although some reports from hunters were discovered that helped locate the 2022 flight.
The discovery could raise hopes that other bird species thought to be extinct may still exist.
“This rediscovery is a wonderful sign of hope for other birds that have been missing for a half-century or more,” said Christina Biggs, director of endangered species research at Re:wild. “The terrain the team explored was very difficult, but their resolve never wavered, even though very few people remember seeing a pheasant pigeon in decades.”
