A team of scientists and conservationists have rediscovered the elusive black-haired pigeon-pheasanta large land pigeon that lives only on Fergusson Islanda rugged island in the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago off eastern Papua New Guinea.
Like other pheasant-pigeons, the black-naped pheasant-pigeon has a broad and laterally compressed tailthat along with its size makes it look a lot like a pheasant. The photographs and video that have recently been released are the first record in some time regarding the bird, which was thought to have been lost as it was last documented by scientists in 1882, when it was described for the first time. Ornithologists know very little about the speciesbut they believe that Fergusson’s population is very small and declining.
The research team photographed the black-furred pigeon-pheasant with a camera trap at a remote spot in Fergusson’s lands, all at the end of a month-long search.
“When we collected the camera traps, I thought there was less than a 1% chance of getting a photo of the black-naped pigeon-pheasant. Then as I was scrolling through the photos, I was blown away by this photo of this bird flying right past our camera.”
he said Jordan Boersmapostdoctoral researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology e co-leader of the expedition team.
The expedition team, which included local Papua New Guineans working with the Papua New Guinea National Museumthe Cornell Lab of Ornithology and theAmerican Bird Conservancyarrived in Fergusson in early September this year, spending a month traveling the island, interviewing local community members to identify locations to set up camera traps in hopes of finding the black-naped pigeon-pheasant, furthermore the steep and mountainous terrain of Fergusson Island made finding the bird extremely challenging.
“It was only as we reached the villages on the western slope of Mount Kilkerran that we began to encounter hunters who had seen and heard the pheasant-pigeon. We became more confident in the bird’s local name, which is ‘Auwo’, and felt as though we were getting closer to the core habitat where the black-naped pheasant-pigeon lives.”
he said Jason Greggconservation biologist e co-leader of the expedition team.
How the expedition to search for the black-haired pigeon-pheasant was carried out
The expedition was the first camera trapping study conducted on Fergusson Island, with the team that placed 12 camera traps on the slopes of Mount Kilkerran, Fergusson’s highest mountain, and has positioned eight more cameras at locations where local hunters had reported seeing the black-naped pheasant-pigeon in the past.
“When we finally found the black-naped pigeon-pheasant, it was during the last hours of the expedition. When I saw the photos, I was incredibly excited.”
he said Doka Nasonthe team member who installed the camera trap and who finally managed to immortalize the lost bird.
A local hunter named Augustin Gregory in the village of Duda Ununawest of Mount Kilkerran, provided a twist on where to find the birdGregory reported seeing the black-naped pheasant-pigeon on multiple occasions in an area with steep ridges and valleys, and described hearing the distinctive calls of the bird, which is similar to other pheasant species- pigeons.
Following Gregory’s advice, the team set up the cameras in an area of dense forest. A camera positioned on a ridge 1000 meters (3,200 feet) near the Kwama River, above Duda Ununa, finally captured the black-furred pigeon-pheasant walking on the forest floor, just two days before the team left the island, as scheduled.
Several team members have already attempted to find the black-naped pigeon-pheasant, ed a two-week survey, conducted in 2019 by Boersma, Gregg and Nason, he found no trace of the bird, although he did collect reports from local hunters of a bird that could have been the pheasant-pigeon. However, the results of that survey helped determine the positions the team looked into in 2022.
“Communities were very excited when they saw the survey results, because many people hadn’t seen or heard of the bird until we started our project and got the camera traps. Now they are looking forward to working with us to try and protect the pheasant-pigeon.”
he said Serena Ketaloya, Milne Bay environmentalistPapua New Guinea.
The team’s findings suggest that the pheasant-pigeon is likely extremely rare, and the rugged, inaccessible forest where they rediscovered the species may be the black-naped pheasant-pigeon’s last stronghold on Fegusson.
The expedition was supported by the American Bird Conservancy and the Search for Lost Birds, a collaboration between BirdLife International, the American Bird Conservancy and Re:wild. The Search for Lost Birds identified the pheasant-pigeon for an expedition after a comprehensive review revealed it was one of the few bird species that has been lost to science for more than a century.
The entire expedition team consisted of: Jason Gregg, Giordano Boersma, Doka Nason from Porotona village, Serena Ketaloya from Porotona village, Elimo Malesa from Bassima village, Bulisa Iova from National Museum of Papua New Guinea, Cosmo Le Breton of the University of Oxford, and John C. Mittermeier of the American Bird Conservancy. The expedition was funded by a grant from Cosmo Le Breton to the American Bird Conservancy and the Search for Lost Birds.
John C. Mittermeier, director of the Lost Birds program at the American Bird Conservancy and co-leader of the expedition said:
“After a month of searching, seeing those early pheasant-pigeon photos was like finding a unicorn. It’s the kind of moment you dream about all your life as an environmentalist and bird watcher.”
Christina Biggs, manager for lost species research at Re:wild said:
“This rediscovery is an incredible beacon of hope for other birds that have been lost for half a century or more. The terrain the team sought was incredibly difficult, yet their resolve never wavered, even though so few people remembered seeing the pheasant-pigeon in decades.”
Roger Safford, senior program manager for extinction prevention at BirdLife International, said:
“In addition to giving hope for the search for other lost species, the detailed information gathered by the team has provided a foundation for the conservation of this extremely rare bird, which must be highly threatened, along with Fergusson Island’s other unique species.”
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