New PHL bird species found in Northern Luzon

Just five days after the discovery of a new species of water beetle in the mega-city of Manila, a new species of bird was found living up in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range—proving once again that the Philippines lives up to its status as a biodiversity hotspot.
 

The extremely elusive Sierra Madre Ground-Warbler was discovered by an international research team hailing from the University of Kansas (KU) and the Philippine National Museum (PNM), after two years of expeditions on the mountain from 2009-2011.

 

The bird is characterized by white wing spots on a brown body, and differs from other species similar in appearance by the coloration patterns found on its head, throat, and breast.

 

Why just now?

 

Two reasons were given in the article about the bird first published in the University of Kansas journal as to why the Sierra Madre Ground-Warbler had not been discovered earlier.

 

The first was that birdwatchers—who often observed the 10 cm-tall bird—confused it for its close cousin, the Cordilleran Ground-Warbler (Robsonius rabori). Analysis of DNA sequences has since proved that the two birds are from different species.

 

The second being that the avians hide under dense vegetation near the rainforest floor, said KU Ph.D. student Pete Hosner. Hosner is the lead author of the new paper describing the Sierra Madre Ground-Warbler.

 

Conservation efforts

 

Currently, the KU and the PNM have teamed up with the Philippine Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau in furthering the conservation efforts of the animal life in northern Luzon, especially as the Sierra Madre Ground-Warbler was found some months after two new species of hawk-owls in the same region.

 

The Philippines is one of the most species-rich areas of marine biodiversity on earth, but the finds in the Sierra Madre mountains and within Metro Manila itself prove that the diversity of its land fauna is also formidable in its own right. -- Vida Cruz / KDM, GMA News