鸟类新种:老挝发现秃头鹎(裸面鹎)

老挝发现一种新鸟类，目前尚未有正式中文名，先叫它秃头鹎或者裸面鹎吧，因为它头顶和面部都是光秃秃的，真是少见。

也有叫它秃头夜莺的，2009年7月29日电 生物学家最近在偏僻的老挝山林中发现一种“秃头”鸟。据有关专家称，这种“秃头”鸟是夜莺的一种。这也是近100年来首次在亚洲发现新的夜莺品种。

野生动物保护协会29日发布了“秃头”夜莺的照片。照片显示，这种鸟头上除两眼之间有一道窄窄的软毛外，其他地方都是光秃秃的，其脸部皮肤为粉红色，眼圈呈蓝色，鸟的大小与画眉差不多。

野生动物保护协会在一份声明中说，“秃头”夜莺鸣叫声与众不同，外部特征非常鲜明，作为亚洲唯一一种“秃头”夜莺，可以说它是独一无二的。因为其栖息地处于偏僻的山林地区，常人难以接近，所以此前一直没有被发现。

英国慈善组织“东方鸟类俱乐部”主办的科学杂志《燕尾》最近刊登了这项发现。

附英文原文：

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/843614/new-bald-bird-discovered-in-laos

New 'bald' bird discovered in Laos

A "bald" bird discovered in Laos is Asia's first new species of bulbul, a type of songbird, in more than 100 years, scientists say.

The scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Melbourne identified the bird, which has "a bald head", the society said in a news release on Thursday.

They reported their findings in the July issue of Forktail, the scientific journal of the Oriental Bird Club, a United Kingdom charity.

"This paper describes for the first time in over 100 years a new Asian species of bulbul," the scientists wrote of their discovery late last year in an area of limestone karsts in Laos's Savannakhet province.

"Its apparent restriction to rather inhospitable habitat helps to explain why such an extraordinary bird with conspicuous habits and a distinctive call has remained unnoticed for so long," said Iain Woxvold, the University of Melbourne scientist who was part of the team that made the discovery.

The bird, named the Bare-faced Bulbul, is not completely bald but has a narrow line of hair-like feathers down the centre of its crown. It also has a distinctive featherless, pink face with bluish skin around the eye extending to the bill, said the conservation society, which manages urban wildlife parks including the Bronx Zoo in New York.

Limestone karsts remain among the least studied ecosystems in Southeast Asia, Woxvold and the other scientists wrote in their journal article.

OBC上有详细描述的PDF文献：http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/news/WoxvoldDuckworthTimmins-Bulbul.pdf