According to Himalayan Nature, an international conservation research institute, Long-billed Wren Babbler, known as Rimator Malacoptilus, was first sighted in 1995. [break]
Ornithologist Jack H Cox Jr had described this rare species on the basis of descriptions provided by his filed assistant Chundak Sherpa. However, his description could not be validated.
Later on June 3, 2009, Cox Jr himself the sighted the bird in Makalu Barun National Park. This time around, Nepal Rare Birds Committee accepted his descriptions and enlisted Long-billed Wren Babbler as the new bird species found in Nepal.
Similarly, Grey-necked Bunting, discovered by Anish Timsina and Dheeraj Chaudhari in Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve, has been enlisted as another new species.
Timsina and Chaudhari, who managed to take photos of the bird they spotted, consulted ornithologist Dr Hem Sagar Baral. Baral´s identification of the new bird as Grey-necked Bunting has been officially accepted by Nepal Rare Birds Committee.
Long-billed Wren Babbler is nearly 12 cm long from beak to tail-tip and weighs between 18-21 grams. It is brown in color and slightly smaller than other wren-babblers.
Grey-necked Bunting is 15 cm (6 inches) long and weighs between 17 to 26 grams with pinkish orange beak, plain head and white ring around the eye.
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