Myanmar tallies 1,114 bird species

YANGON, Myanmar — An extensive survey of birds in Myanmar has revealed nearly two dozen not known to have existed in the country, including a large black seabird with a ballooning red neck sack and a tiny black-and-white falconet with a surprised, pandalike expression.

The Great Frigate and the Pied Falconet were among 20 previously undocumented birds spotted in a four-year field survey by the Bird and Nature Society, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Flora & Fauna International and several other bird-enthusiast associations, said Thet Zaw Naing, one of the surveyors.

The team tallied 1,114 species from 2010 to 2014, he said, adding seven endemic to the country.

Myanmar is regarded as one of Asia’s last bastions of biodiversity partly because decades of isolation under harsh military rule allowed the country to avoid the often-rampant development in other parts of the region.

Environmentalists say they worry that could change as the country sees economic development expand into agriculture land and grasslands.

Poaching is another concern, said Thet Zaw Naing, secretary of the Myanmar Bird and Nature Society.

Pesticide use in farming is also a threat to birds, said Ngwe Lwin, Indawgyi Project manager of British-based Fauna & Flora International.

The nesting grounds of the Great Frigate, spotted in the Gulf of Martaban near Yangon, are normally found around the Pacific and Indian oceans, with significant populations in the South Atlantic.

The Pied Falconet is found in the forests of the Assam region of India and Southeastern China, Laos and surrounding areas.