Malabar Whistling spotted for the first time in Nepal

Kathmandu, June 2: A species of bird named Malabar Whistling has been recorded for the first time since its discovery in Nepal last Saturday.

According to Deu Bahadur Rana, Project Officer at Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), he and his colleague Amrit Nepali spotted a bluish bird during a survey along the Butwal-Dang transmission line. Spotted by the side of a cable car station near Golpark of Rupandehi district during a bird survey, the team initially believed the bluish bird to be a Blue Whistling Thrush, a species commonly found in Nepal.

However, after a closer examination, observation and comparison of specific physical traits of the birds in photographs, the team identified the newly spotted bird to be the Malabar Whistling, the name the bird got for the whistling calls it makes at dawn, which sound similar to a human whistle.

The Malabar Whistling is a resident of the Western Ghats and the Southern side of India, according to the BCN. This species of bird has a blackish upper body with shiny metallic patches of blue on the forehead and shoulders, while the legs and bill are black.

The BCN claimed that this marks the first official recording of Malabar Whistling in Nepal.