A Dusky Tetraca bird that lives only in Madagascar has reappeared in the African country, after its 24-year “extinction”, which aroused the relief of the concerned scientific community.
Two birds of this species, which have a yellow throat, were spotted during a mission by ornithologists in a remote forest in northeastern Madagascar in December, reports Al-Rai daily.
It took the team 40 hours in the car and half a day walking, until its members reached the places where this rare type of bird was last seen in 1999.
Specialists in that area discovered a forest in poor condition, after a large area of it was converted into farms for the production of the vanilla plant, although it constitutes a protected site.
Several days later, the bird was spotted moving among the bushes near a rocky river, and the team took a picture of it. Another team was able to spot a second bird that was flying most of the time alongside dense vegetation near a river, possibly looking for insects and other prey.
“Since we found Dusky tetraca and better understand the habitats in which these birds live, we are able to search for these birds in other regions of Madagascar,” said Lily Arison Rene de Roland, Madagascar Program Manager for The Peregrine Fund.