A rare bird has been found in a mountain forest in Indonesia — Reuters
For the first time in a long while, ornithologists have spotted Buru lorikeets—vibrantly colored parrots found exclusively on Buru Island in eastern Indonesia.
During this unique expedition, scientists not only managed to take the first photographs of the bird in the last twelve years but also recorded its calls.
Over the past century, this species has been considered one of the most elusive on the planet, as there have been only isolated reports of it until now.
This parrot, whose scientific name is Charmosynopsis toxopei, is endemic to Buru Island, meaning it is found nowhere else on Earth.
The small bird was spotted during a challenging expedition led by an Indonesian mountaineering team.
For the first time in 12 years, the team photographed the bird and made the first audio recordings of its high-frequency calls—sounds that birds often use to maintain contact in the forest.
The researchers traveled to the remote region specifically to search for this species, although they considered their chances to be slim.
The researchers were able to identify the elusive parrot in the wild thanks to its distinctive appearance and plumage.
The lorikeet’s bright green body, orange beak, blue nape, and pointed tail helped the team identify it.
The expedition organizers emphasize that the success of this mission came as a real surprise to the entire global scientific community. The search was successful despite the long absence of official evidence of the population’s existence.
“When you’re looking for a bird that has been documented only once in the last century, it seems unlikely,” said John Mittermeier, director of the Search for Lost Birds program at the American Bird Conservancy.
First described based on seven specimens collected in the 1920s, the Buru lorikeet was one of Indonesia’s ornithological mysteries.
The bird remained unknown for nearly 90 years, despite searches in lowland and mid-mountain forests, before it was photographed in 2014. All this time, scientists tried to track down the rare parrot in various locations on the island.
It had long been suspected that the parrot might not have gone extinct, but rather lived higher up in the mountains. The high-altitude landscape where the lorikeet was found remained largely inaccessible until recently, before local mountaineers blazed a trail into the mountains.
John Mittermeier noted that the steep limestone terrain, cliffs, sharp boulders, and lack of water make this area difficult to access.
Despite the extreme conditions, the researchers were fortunate to encounter a whole group of parrots, confirming the existence of a viable population. Thanks to the species’ unique characteristics, ornithologists were able to identify the birds unmistakably among the other fauna.
“There are no other birds on the island that resemble lorikeets, so when we saw them, we immediately knew what they were. We saw at least nine during the trip,” said Mittermeier.
The difficulty of the route and the island’s harsh climate have long protected the parrots’ natural habitat from human interference. Expedition members emphasize that the journey required extraordinary effort and serious physical conditioning.
James Eaton, an ornithologist who participated in the expedition, said that the rain, uneven limestone, river currents, and the lack of trails meant that anyone attempting to reach the summit needed “a compelling—or crazy—reason to even try.”
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