Lose one, find one. China thinks the white dolphin in the Yangtze River went extinct, that’s one lost, but good news today. China is adding a new species of bird to the wildlife list.

It’s called the Nonggang Babbler. It has a white crescent-shaped patch behind the ear, grayish-brown spots on a white throat and the rest is dark brown. The babbler likes to walk instead of fly and feeds on worms and insects in between rocks. It flies only when scared.

The new addition to wildlife species was discovered by ornithologists in a small patch of limestone rainforest on the Sino-Vietnamese border. The bird was first spotted four years ago by a professor of the College of Animal Sciences and Technology and one of his grad students. In the subsequent four years studies and fieldwork were conducted to confirm the bird was a new species.

The prof said he had been studying birds for more than 30 years. Stachyris nonggangensis (Nonggang Babbler) is the name of this new discovery. The discovery has been confirmed by the Auk – world’s leading journal on ornithology. The last time a new bird was found in China was in the 1930s.

The prof went on to say “It is very difficult to restore the biodiversity of a rainforest once its ecological is disturbed. Given the bird’s small number and its threatened habitat, it’s important to include it in the State list of protected species.” In other words, now that I found this new bird, let’s make sure we don’t lose it.

Birdwatchers everywhere can be found making reservations to go to the Sino-Vietnamese border.

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