Nuri Dahi-Biru Appears Again on Buru Island, a Rare Bird that was Nearly Lost for a Century

Nuri dahi-biru, one of the most difficult birds to find in Indonesia, was seen again on Buru Island after almost a century of almost no record. This finding is important because the small bird only lives on Buru and is not found anywhere else in the world.

Quoted from The Independent, Thursday, June 4, the bird was seen in April during a heavy expedition led by an Indonesian climbing group on the highest peak of Buru Island.

Previously, the blue-faced parrot was only known from a number of museum specimens and one photo in 2014. After that, the trail was again faint.

In the latest expedition, the team managed to photograph a blue-faced parrot for the first time in 12 years. They also recorded the sound of his call for the first time. The high-pitched voice is used by birds to communicate with each other in the dense forest canopy.

The characteristics of this bird are quite typical. Its body is bright green, its beak is orange, the back of its head is blue, and its tail is pointed.

"When you're looking for a bird that's only been documented once in the last century, it feels like a really slim chance," said John Mittermeier, director of the Search for Lost Birds at the American Bird Conservancy, quoted by The Independent.

Nuri blue-browed was first described from seven specimens collected in the 1920s. Since then, this bird has become one of the great mysteries of the bird world in Indonesia.

For almost 90 years, the search in lowland and mid-altitude forests was fruitless. The bird reappeared in 2014, then disappeared from the record again.

The long-standing suspicion that this bird lives in a higher place now has new clues. The area where the parrot was found has been difficult to reach, until local climbers mapped a path to the mountains.

The terrain is far from easy. Mittermeier said the path was filled with steep limestone, cliffs, sharp rocks, and almost no water.

"There are no other birds on the island that look like the parrot. So when we saw it, we immediately knew it was the bird we were looking for," he said.

The Independent reported that the team saw at least nine individuals during the expedition.

James Eaton, a bird watcher who took part in the trip, said the terrain they faced was very difficult. There was rain, jagged limestone, fast river currents, and unclear paths.

According to Eaton, people need a very strong reason, or just crazy, to try to reach the top.

For the team, the reason is a little green bird that was long thought to be lost.

"When we finally managed to photograph the bird that was our holy grail, all the difficulties suddenly disappeared," said Eaton.

Nuri has a blue forehead and is currently in the category of insufficient data in the IUCN Red List. In 2024, this bird will also be on the list of lost species version of Search for Lost Birds.

Mittermeier said further research was still needed. The number of populations, distribution, and threats to these birds are not yet known for certain.

According to Mittermeier, this rediscovery is only the first step to protect the blue-faced lorikeet.

For Eaton, the findings show that nature still holds many surprises. There is still a lot of wildlife that has not been fully understood, especially in hard-to-reach areas.