A new bird species has been officially recorded in Nepal. The Nepal Ornithological Union announced that the “Violet Cuckoo” has been observed for the first time in the Sukhanī forest area of Ilam, located at an altitude of 300 meters above sea level.
On Chaitra 25 (early April), a team including ornithologist Rajendra Gurung spotted a male Violet Cuckoo during a birdwatching trip. The bird was seen for over an hour, flying from one tree to another. Malaysian birdwatcher Alexander John Eng Yang identified the bird by its call, helping the team locate it. Fellow team members Roger Robert Rajah from Malaysia and Anish Timilsina from Nepal also observed the bird.
Photos and videos were taken for initial identification, and later, Rajendra Gurung submitted the documentation to the Nepal Bird Records Committee on Chaitra 28 for confirmation. After reviewing the materials and consulting national and international experts, the committee confirmed the bird as a new record for Nepal, according to committee chair Dr. Tulsi Subedi.
The bird has been given the Nepali name “Bejani Koili”. It is typically found in countries like Bhutan, the Philippines, Singapore, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, and breeds in some of these areas. With this discovery, Nepal’s total recorded bird species count has now reached 899.
