Saturday, March 15, 2008

New bird from Indonesia

From the vast Indonesian archipelago comes the latest new bird species, a small green and white creature dubbed the Togian white-eye Zosterops somadikartai.
It was first spotted in 1997 by Mochamad Indrawan of the University of Indonesia. Now, with the discovery in hand, Indrawan says, "This finding of the bird is only the beginning given the vast opportunities with Indonesian landscapes and seascapes of endemic flora and fauna." American expert Patricia Rasmussen, who did the taxonomic work on the type specimen, adds, "What this discovery highlights is that in some parts of the world there are still virtually unexplored islands where few ornithologists have worked. The world still holds avian surprises for us."

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