Nepal rufous-vented prinia
Nepal rufous-vented prinia is a small warbler and sub-species of rufous-vented prinia. It was discovered in the southern grasslands of Nepal.[1]
On 1 April 2005 Suchit Basnet and Badri Chaudhary located two prinias at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, eastern Nepal which they submitted as Rufous-vented Prinia Prinia burnesii cinerascens to the Nepal Rare Birds Committee (NRBC). Due to lack of information on the status, the NRBC could not make a decision to confirm the species. BC went back to the same locality on 7 April and saw the birds again, this time 3 individuals. The clearly visible light rufous undertail coverts led him to believe that the birds were Rufous-vented Prinia P. b. burnesii as opposed to the previous claim. When BC submitted these records to NRBC, some members were still not clear about the birds’ identity. On both occasions, the observers managed to obtain song recordings of the birds.
On 25 December 2005, the song recording was played in the vicinity of the grassland areas where these prinias were seen earlier, but both BC and HSB failed to locate any birds. On 21 January 2006 HC and BC saw up to 3 birds again in the same locality. On 25 January 2006, the song recording was played by BC and HSB was able to record fresh tape of the song. With the help of tape luring, one bird was trapped in a mist net at 0755hrs on 25 January 2006. At least 3 more individuals were seen in the area on this date. The trapped bird was thoroughly examined by HSB, SGC, BC, TG and HC. Between 1 and 4 March, a total of 12 individuals were trapped, of which one was a retrap of the bird mist-netted on 25 January 2006. All these birds were thoroughly examined by HSB, SGC and BC.