Two new species of birds spotted in Nepal

Ornithologists have spotted  two new species of birds in the southern Terai plane of Nawalparasi district around Bardaghat area, which were not known to be existed inside the country.

Coordinator of bird census in western sector of Chitwan National Park DB Chaudhary said that Greater White Fronted Goose and Black-Headed Brambling were found in this year's census. "These two species of birds were not discovered in previous year so it’s a new found,” Chaudhary said. The birds were spotted near the Narayani riverbank this.

This year, a total of 38 species of water birds have been spotted in Nawalpur area alone. According to Chaudhary, 10 species of birds that were found last year have not appeared so far during the ongoing census. 

It is said that the number of birds are sharply declining in the past one decade in the country, although the warmer Terai planes are a favored destinations for winter mingratory birds. 

The bird was discovered during the ongoing water bird census conducted by the government. The water bird census that started on January 1 will continue till January 16.

Among the most common water birds, the number of bar-headed Goose (Khoya Hans), a migratory bird that come from Siberia to escape cold, is recorded the most this year.  

Coordinator Chaudhary said that the number of Ruddy Shelducks, known as Chakhewa and plays a major cultural values in the settlements around Terai, has also witnessed a sharp decline this year. 

Although, the number of migratory birds has decreased though the number of local birds found around the Narayani river banks, Koshi river banks and other wetlands has not changed fundamentally.

Nepal is a home of over 925 speicies of birds of which above 40 speicies are under globally threatened speicies.