A new species of bird discovered in parts of northeastern India and adjacent parts of China. The scientific name of this new found species of bird is Zoothera salimalii. Scientist named it after the name of Indian ornithologist Dr Sálim Ali (1896–1987) who made a great contribution in the development of Indian ornithology and wildlife conservation. While, it has been named by the scientists as Himalayan Forest Thrush.
This new species of bird was discovered by the team of scientists from India, Sweden, China, the US and Russia including Dr. Per Alström and Shashank Dalvi. They first discovered the Himalayan Forest Thrush in May-June of 2009 while studying birds at high elevations of western Arunachal Pradesh.
During their study, scientists realised that the already known single species, the Plain-backed Thrush (Zoothera mollissima) has two different species in northeastern India.
The difference between these two species of bird was made on the basis of their through their voice. The species that resides in the coniferous and mixed forest had a musical song while the species found in the same region, but on bare rocky habitats above the tree-line had a much harsher, scratchier, unmusical song. Thus it was concluded that Himalayan Forest Thrush and Plain-backed Thrush are two different species of bird.
It was also found through the studies of museum specimens in 15 museums in 7 countries that there is a difference between the plumage and structure of these two species. It was concluded that the species breeding in the forests of the eastern Himalayas had no scientific name.
Hence, Scientists named this new species as Himalayan Forest Thrush (Zoothera salimalii). There is a third species of this group of birds called Sichuan Forest Thrush found in China. The Himalayan Forest Thrush has been overlooked until now because of its similar appearance with the bird Alpine Thrush.
The Himalayan Forest Thrush is only the fourth new bird species described from India since our independence in 1947. India has 1180 species of recorded birds. It is on the 9th position in the list of countries with the most diverse avifauna. Research regarding the Himalayan forest thrush will be published online in the journal Avian Research.
