A new species of bird from the heart of Peru remained undetected for years until researchers identified it by its unique song.
A new species of bird from the heart of Peru remained undetected for years until researchers identified it by its unique song.
In 1996, a group of Louisiana State University and Florida Museum of Natural History researchers traveled to the Cordillera Azul, an isolated mountain ridge in Peru, where they discovered a previously unknown manakin species.
With its bright yellow front feathers, the bird was different from the local subspecies of striped manakin, but nearly identical to the subspecies Machaeropterus regulus aureopectus found in the distant Venezuelan tepuis. But it has a completely different voice.
The newly discovered manakin’s song lacks undertones and has a one-noted rising vocalization, rather than two-noted falling vocalization with undertones or a falling monosyllabic vocalization with undertones.
Read more at Florida Museum of Natural History
Image: Though found in 1996, this manakin wasn't discovered to be a new species until researchers listened to its song years later. (Credit: Andy Kratter/Florida Museum of Natural History)
