A rare and Critically endangered bird, Bugun Liocichla was spotted at the Eagle nest Pass in western Arunachal Pradesh during a day-long festival. The rare bird has a very attractive plumage and is found only in the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in the West Kameng district. The species is named after the local Bugun tribe, who protect them.
According to Naresh Glow, the chief organizer of the Bugun Liochchla Festival , a pair of a male and a female of the bird species was spotted on Wednesday. He further said that the SBVCR range officer, many social activists and civilians who were present at the festival were elated to see the rare bird. The bird looks olive grey with a black cap and a black upper tail.
Currently as per reports only 14-20 such birds are present in the state. They occupy an area of 3-4 square kilometres in the temperate forest within the traditional lands of Singchung, 213 km west of Itanagar.
Because of its extremely low population and decline in numbers due to habitat loss,the species was classified as critically endangered in its Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Discovered as new species by astrophysicist Raman Athreya, this bird was first spotted in 1995 and again in 2006 at the Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve, a biodiversity hotspot spread in 234 sq km.
