But in 2021, Gonzalo Cardonathe ranger and protector of the yellow-eared parrot population, which had caused their population to increase, was shot dead by an unknown group of criminals and buried in a shallow grave. Botero Delgadio says his team of researchers should also be cautious in this area.
Another bird species that was recently included in the list of 10 missing birds is the black-necked pheasant pigeon. This bird is the size of a chicken, and after 126 years of being lost, it was found in a remote area of ​​Papua New Guinea in 2022.
The presence of a species of birds in nature may not have been documented by science for a long time; But this does not mean the loss of the species for the indigenous people. To find the black-necked pheasant pigeon in Papua New Guinea, which is considered the most endangered land bird, researchers traveled to villages where the bird was last seen.
John C. Mittermierfounder of the Search for Missing Birds project, was a member of a team of researchers searching for the black-necked pheasant pigeon in Papua New Guinea. “The people who live in those villages are mainly subsistence farmers, fishermen and hunters, so they know the area and its wildlife very well,” says Mittermeer. We asked them if they had seen this species, whose local name is U-Wu.
So far, more than ten cases of missing birds have been discovered
One day, one of these birds suddenly appeared in front of the installed camera trap. Seeing the first photos of the black-necked pheasant pigeon was like finding a unicorn, says Dr Mittermeier. Every birdwatcher and environmentalist spends his whole life dreaming of such a moment.
Three bird species are also listed as extinct in North America. The most famous of them is the ivory-billed woodpecker. The last confirmed sighting of this bird in the United States was in Louisiana in 1944. This bird was also seen in Cuba in 1987. Since then, there have been no confirmed sightings. Due to poor quality videos that may show the ivory-billed woodpecker, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has not yet declared the bird extinct. Two other extinct birds in North America are the Eskimo kingfisher and the Bachman’s cesk.
It didn’t take long for some of the project’s 144 missing birds to be found; So far, more than ten of them have been identified. The first was found before the paper was published: the Muso trailer, a small bird with a long tail and wings, by Joshua Bergmarktour guide, photographed in Papua New Guinea.
Dr. Mittermier was overjoyed at the news, and even more so when the project researchers announced that a single-colored cicada sighting had also been documented in Bolivia. “The enthusiasm of people around the world gives me hope that we can find more lost birds,” he says.
