This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Thursday, 25 February 2021
'Return' of the Black-browed Babbler?
The beastie shown is a Bali starling (it's not easy to get to Borneo at present and I'm not too used to working in rainforests). In Borneo itself, there has been a first sighting of a bird not seen since the 1840s (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/25/black-browed-babbler-found-in-borneo-180-years-after-last-sighting). The bird in question is the Black-browed babbler (Malacocincla perspicillata). A single bird was collected by a nephew of Napoleon, whilst on an expedition to the 'East Indies'. It has been preserved as a faded museum specimen but the bird was never (until now) recorded in the wild again. Two bird enthusiasts have now caught and photographed a new specimen of the babbler in the rainforests of Borneo. This 'rediscovery' type of story always generates more interest than reports of extinctions. It's a sad fact of life that 'rediscoveries' are much more unusual than extinctions (and you can't prove a negative in science).
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