A bird long thought extinct has been rediscovered in Myanmar (Burma) after scientists used a recording of the species' distinctive call to track it down.
The Jerdon's babbler (Chrysomma altirostre altirostre) - a small brown bird similar in size to a house sparrow - was last seen in Myanmar in 1941 and was thought to have died out.
But in May 2014, a team of scientists managed to uncover babblers nesting in a small area of grassland in Myanmar's central Bago region, according to their report in the latest issue of Birding Asia.
The scientists targeted some of the few remaining patches of wild grassland left along Myanmar's Irrawaddy river, one of the most heavily cultivated and densely populated regions of the Southeast Asian country.
At one small patch of grassland near an abandoned agricultural station, the team heard what they thought could be the babbler's call.
They then used a recording of a Jerdon's babbler from the Indian subcontinent to see if the bird would show itself.
Frank Rheindt, of the National University of Singapore, said he was the first person to see the bird during the survey, which was also carried out with members of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Myanmar's Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division.
"It was unbelievable," he said.
"We played the sound recordings and one of the birds came up from the reed beds. Like many songbirds in reed beds you hardly ever see them, they only come out to defend their territory when they hear a territorial call."
Further searches during the next two days uncovered more birds allowing researchers to obtain blood samples and photographs.
But researchers warn the bird's survival is far from guaranteed, given pressure on Myanmar's few remaining grasslands.
"This discovery not only proves that the species still exists in Myanmar but that the habitat can still be found as well," Colin Poole, director of Wildlife Conservation Society's regional hub in Singapore, said in a statement.
"Future work is needed to identify remaining pockets of natural grassland and develop systems for local communities to conserve and benefit from them."
