A new songbird species discovered!

According to scientist from Michigan State University and Uppsala University in Sweden, a new species of bird has been discovered between Chinese and Indian border, called the Himalayan forest thrush, or Zoothera Salimalii.

The chosen name of the new bird is a tribute to Indian ornithologist, Salim Ali.

As written in journal Avian Research, at first, the scientist thought that the newly found was an ordinary thrush, the plain-backed Zoothera mollissima. Only later realized it was a different species, after they heard the bird’s singing.

According to VOA report on Thursday (21/1), the ordinary plain-backed thrush has a much harsher, throatier, and inharmonious voice. The species lives in the coniferous and diverse forest. The new bird, which lives above the tree-line, has a rather musical voice.

"It was an exciting moment when the penny dropped, and we realized that the two different song types from plain-backed thrushes that we first heard in northeast India in 2009, and which were associated with different habitats at different elevations, were given by two different species," said Per Alstrom of Uppsala University, the scientists’ team leader.

The team also inspected the bird specimens in the museum, and noticed that there are consistent differences between two birds’ feathers and structures.

"At first we had no idea how or whether they differed morphologically. We were stunned to find that specimens in museums for over 150 years from the same parts of the Himalayas could readily be divided into two groups based on measurements and plumage," Pamela Rasmussen of Michigan State University said.

After examining the DNA of the birds, the scientists agreed that the species have been genetically separated for several million years.

The Himalayan forest thrush is only the fourth new species discovered in India since 1949. Globally, finding a new species of birds is rare, as only five new species discovered annually over the past 15 years.