A new bird species has been discovered in Upper Humla. A group of researchers from Friends of Nature Nepal found the Tibetan Lark (Melanocorypha maxima) in the higher mountains bordering China.
New to Nepal, the bird species was captured on camera in the remote Limi Valley of Humla in July last year. The discovery was made by a team led by Naresh Kusi, wildlife conservation officer at the FoN, during a research on Wild Yak. The study was funded by Rufford Foundation.
The discovery was confirmed by well-known ornithologists—both local and global—including Carol Inskipp, who has authored a book titled ‘Birds of Nepal’, and Hem Sagar Baral, a senior ornithologist from Nepal.
Tibetan Lark is found in high altitudes in the Tibetan plateau, Ladakh and Sikkim in India and highlands of Pakistan. According to the International Union for Nature Conservation, Tibetan Lark is habituated at an altitude between 3,200 and 4,600 metres above sea level. In 2013, this species was sighted at an altitude of 4,626 MASL while in Nepal it is spotted between 4,872 and 4,954 MASL.
“The sighting of Tibetan Lark in Upper Humla by the team also puts the record of finding this bird species in the highest altitude globally,” claims Kusi. Nepal is home to 876 bird species.
The FoN team comprising national and international researchers has been visiting Upper Humla since 2013 to conduct research on wolf and red fox. The team has already made a significant rediscovery of Wild Yak that was thought to be extinct from the country more than five decades ago. In June 2014, the team captured the yak in the wild on camera for the first time in 53 years.
Nepal Tourism News Source: Kathmandu Post
0 comments:
Post a Comment