TessaLovins0 at 19:56, 1 October 2025

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{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{speciesbox
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |year=2018 |title=''Liocichla bugunorum'' |amends=2017 |article-number=e.T22734628A125508034 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22734628A125508034.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Bugun Loichichla.jpg
| genus = Liocichla
| species = bugunorum
| authority = [[Ramana Athreya|Athreya]], 2006
| range_map = <div>{{OSM Location map
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| caption = Distribution of Bugun liocichla
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| mark-coord1={{coord|27.106200136169655|92.3953628540039}}|shape-color1=#52b34d|shape1=circle| mark-size1=12
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The '''Bugun liocichla''' ('''''Liocichla bugunorum''''') is a [[passerine]] bird [[species]] from the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Leiothrichidae]]<ref>{{cite book|author1=Collar, N. J. |author2=Robson C. |name-list-style=amp |year= 2007|chapter= Family Timaliidae (Babblers)|pages= 70–291|editor=del Hoyo, J.|editor2=Elliott, A.|editor3=Christie, D.A. |title=''[[Handbook of the Birds of the World]]'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees|publisher=Lynx Edicions, Barcelona}}</ref> closely related to the [[Emei Shan liocichla]]. First spotted in 1995 in [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[India]], it was described as a new species in 2006.<ref name="athreya">
{{cite journal | last = Athreya | first = Ramana | title = A new species of ''Liocichla'' (Aves:Timaliidae) from Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India | journal = Indian Birds | volume = 2 | issue = 4 | pages = 82–94 | date = 31 August 2006 | url = http://indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB2.4_Athreya_BugunLiocichla.pdf | access-date = 31 March 2017 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111335/http://indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB2.4_Athreya_BugunLiocichla.pdf | archive-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref> The description was made without the collection of a [[Type (zoology)|type specimen]] as they were too few to risk killing one. It is thought to be an endangered species, with a small population, and a very restricted distribution range within which commercial development threatens the habitat.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/~rathreya/Downloads/athreya2006_ebp.pdf|author=Athreya, R.|year=2006|title=Eaglenest Biodiversity Project − I (2003–2006): Conservation resources for Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary. A report submitted to the Forest Department of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, India, and the Rufford-Maurice-Laing Foundation (UK)|publisher=Kaati Trust, Pune.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331212205/http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/~rathreya/Downloads/athreya2006_ebp.pdf|archive-date=31 March 2017}}</ref>

==Description==
The Bugun liocichla is a small babbler ({{convert|20|cm||abbr=on}}) with olive-grey [[plumage]] and a black cap. The face is marked with prominent orange-yellow lores, and the wings have yellow, red and white patches. The tail is black with crimson coloured undertail coverts and red tips. The feet are pink and the bill is black at the face fading to pale white. A second duller individual was [[mist net]]ted, which was probably the female. The voice is described as fluty and distinctive.<ref name="athreya"/>

A study of the evolution of the species within the genus ''Liocichla'' based on mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity showed that the species is most closely related to ''L. omeiensis'' with the Hengduan Mountains possibly acting as the isolating barrier between the two.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1186/s40657-015-0025-y|title=A multilocus molecular phylogeny for the avian genus ''Liocichla'' (Passeriformes: Leiothrichidae: Liocichla)|journal=Avian Research|volume=6|year=2015|last1=Mays|first1=Herman L|last2=McKay|first2=Bailey D|last3=Tietze|first3=Dieter Thomas|last4=Yao|first4=Cheng-Te|last5=Miller|first5=Lindsey N|last6=Moreland|first6=Kathleen N|last7=Lei|first7=Fumin|doi-access=free}}{{open access}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
All sightings of the species have been at an altitude of {{convert|2000|m|abbr=on}} on disturbed hillsides covered with shrubs and small trees, with the exception of one sighting on the edge of primary [[forest]]. It lives in a territory similar to that of the [[Emei Shan liocichla]]. Small flocks were observed during January, whereas pairs were observed in May, with an estimated total of 14 individuals.<ref name="athreya"/> It is thought that pairs may hold and defend territories. The Bugun liocichla is only currently known from just one location. Populations may be discovered in other areas of Arunachal Pradesh or neighbouring [[Bhutan]].<ref name="athreya"/>

Attempts have been made to identify new locations where the species could occur based on identification of suitable habitats using computational models.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Peterson, A. T. |author2=M. Papeş |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |title=Potential geographic distribution of the Bugun liocichla ''Liocichla bugunorum'', a poorly-known species from north-eastern India |journal=Indian Birds |volume=2 |pages=146–149 |url=http://www.specifysoftware.org/Informatics/bios/biostownpeterson/PP_IB_2006.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628044757/http://www.specifysoftware.org/Informatics/bios/biostownpeterson/PP_IB_2006.pdf |archive-date=28 June 2007 }}</ref>

==Species discovery==
{{cladogram|align=left|caption=Relationship among liocichlas<ref name=phylo>{{cite journal|doi=10.1186/s40657-015-0025-y |title=A multilocus molecular phylogeny for the avian genus ''Liocichla'' (Passeriformes: Leiothrichidae: ''Liocichla'') |journal=Avian Research |volume=6 |year=2015 |last1=Mays |first1=Herman L. |last2=McKay |first2=Bailey D. |last3=Tietze |first3=Dieter Thomas |last4=Yao |first4=Cheng-Te |last5=Miller |first5=Lindsey N. |last6=Moreland |first6=Kathleen N. |last7=Lei |first7=Fumin |doi-access=free }}</ref>|
cladogram={{clade|style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%
|label1=
|1={{clade
|label1=
|1={{clade
|label1=
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Liocichla phoenicea|L. phoenicea]]''
|2=''[[Liocichla ripponi|L. ripponi]]''
}}
|label2=
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Liocichla bugunorum|L. bugunorum]]''
|2=''[[Liocichla omeiensis|L. omeiensis]]''
}}
}}
|2=''[[Liocichla steerii|L. steerii]]''
}}
}}
}}
The species was described in 2006 after being discovered in [[Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary]] in [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[India]], by an [[astrophysicist]], [[Ramana Athreya]].<ref name="Athreya">{{cite web | title = New Multicolored Bird Found in India | agency = Associated Press | date = 12 September 2006 | url = http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060912/D8K3JND00.html | access-date = 14 September 2006 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110301220717/http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060912/D8K3JND00.html | archive-date = 1 March 2011}}</ref> The species was first spotted in the sanctuary in 1995 but was not seen again for ten years. Athreya spotted them again in January 2005 but did not publicize it until he was able to confirm it to be a new species. It was initially identified as appearing most similar to an [[Emei Shan liocichla]], ''Liocichla omeiensis'', a species of Liocichla [[endemic (ecology)|endemic]] to [[China]]. It was, however, distinctly different and the full description was finally made by capturing and examining two individuals using mistnets, in May 2006. Due to the apparent rarity of the species no [[Type (zoology)|type specimen]] was collected, instead [[feather]]s from the mist net, photographs, recordings and notes were used as the holotype.<ref name="Athreya"/><ref name="birds">{{cite web | title = Bugun liocichla: a sensational discovery in north-east India | work = Birdlife International | date = 12 September 2006 | url = http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/09/bugun_liocichla.html | access-date = 12 September 2006 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061005133918/http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/09/bugun_liocichla.html | archive-date = 5 October 2006}}</ref> The [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]] does not allow for new species to be described without the collection of type specimens, but this provision was circumvented in this case by the collection of feathers (the Code allows for "any part of an animal" to be treated as a type specimen; Art. 72.5.1<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp |title=The Code Online | International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature |access-date=31 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524144249/http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp |archive-date=24 May 2009 }} The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature</ref>). The 1991 description of the [[Bulo Burti boubou]] (''Laniarius liberatus''), an African bushshrike species later considered invalid, lacked a specimen and only blood samples were collected and has been more controversial. A detailed review of the discovery of the species was published in 2007.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kannan|first=R.|year=2007|title=New bird descriptions without proper voucher specimens: reflections after the Bugun liocichla case|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|volume=104|issue=1|pages=12–18}}</ref>

The first report of the species was made in a posting to Nathistory-India, an [[electronic mailing list]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lists.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9608&L=NATHISTORY-INDIA&P=R1290&I=-3|title=LISTSERV 16.0 – Archives – Error|website=lists.princeton.edu}}</ref> It was only in 2006, however, that the species was formally described.<ref name=desc>{{cite journal |url=http://www.indianbirds.in/images/IB%5B1%5D.2.4.Liocichla.pdf |author=Athreya, R. |year=2006 |title=A new species of ''Liocichla'' (Aves: Timaliidae) from Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India |journal=Indian Birds |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=82–94 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316091722/http://www.indianbirds.in/images/IB%5B1%5D.2.4.Liocichla.pdf |archive-date=16 March 2007 }}</ref>

===Taxonomy and systematics===
The species' scientific and common names are derived from the [[Khowa tribe|Bugun tribe]] in whose communal forests the species was discovered.<ref name="birds"/>

The species is a sister of ''Liocichla omeiensis'' and the speciation may have been caused by the isolating geographic barrier of the Hengduan mountains.<ref name=phylo />

==Threats and conservation==
For a "spectacular bird" with distinctive calls to have been overlooked until 1995 suggests that the species is not common. Only three breeding pairs are currently known and it's listed as critically endangered. While the species is capable of living in degraded forests, its small population is considered threatened, especially in the light of plans to build a highway through an area thought to be its primary habitat.<ref name="birds"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20211211233427/http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=4&action=searchresult&Bird_ID=2795&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1 Field sketch of the bird prior to study and description]}}
* [http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~sbhatnag/Nature/warunachal/wapMiscEaglenestBP.htm The Eaglenest Biodiversity project]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20180307023008/http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?action=searchresult&Bird_ID=2795&Bird_Image_ID=21654&Bird_Family_ID=&p=2 Photograph of holotype]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200107023707/http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?action=searchresult&Bird_ID=2795 More photographs]}}

{{good article}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1002627}}

[[Category:Liocichla|Bugun liocichla]]
[[Category:Birds of Northeast India]]
[[Category:Endemic fauna of India]]
[[Category:Environment of Arunachal Pradesh|Bugun liocichla]]
[[Category:Critically endangered fauna of Asia]]
[[Category:Birds described in 2006|Bugun liocichla]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of Northeast India]]

Bugun liocichla - Revision history

TessaLovins0 at 19:56, 1 October 2025