Bolivian scientific expedition, Identidad Madidi, has confirmed the 1,000th bird species in Madidi National Park, one of the world’s most biodiverse protected areas and a mecca of bird life.

The 1,000th bird recorded—the dusky-tailed flatbill (Ramphotrigon fuscicauda)—was a surprise to the team; its song was detected by the ornithologist while analyzing audio recordings in his office in Cochabamba. The bird was recorded at the sixth site of the two-year expedition into the park. This leg of the expedition occurred in October 2015 exploring perhaps the most biologically diverse site in the park: within the Amazonian rainforests and foothill forests of Alto Madidi in the upper reaches of the Madidi River.

“As a young Bolivian ornithologist it is so exciting to be working in this incredible park and I am extremely pleased to be able to record the milestone 1000th bird for Madidi,” said expedition researcher Victor Hugo Garcia of Armonia who registered the species. “I knew that my audiotapes might reveal a few more records for the trip, and perhaps for the site, but it was a surprise to find a new record for the park. Listening through hours of recordings after every field trip is major commitment and perhaps not particularly thrilling, but surprises like this one make it all worthwhile.”

The audio recording of the dusky-tailed flatbill has been verified by two expert ornithologists from the Bolivian conservation NGO Armonía (http://armoniabolivia.org/). Bennett Hennessey, renowned Madidi ornithologist and the executive director of Armonia said: “Such phenomenal bird diversity, all within a single protected area, highlights the global importance of Madidi National Park for wildlife conservation.”

Dr. Robert Wallace of WCS added: “It is especially fitting that Madidi´s 1000th bird was registered at Alto Madidi and confirmed by a young Bolivian ornithologist who is able to recognize birdsong and natural history to register species. Twenty-five years ago the late Ted Parker III, a legendary Neotropical ornithologist who pioneered the use of vocalization knowledge in tropical bird surveys and influenced a whole generation of Latin American ornithologists, visited Alto Madidi and declared that Bolivia had the chance to create the worlds most biologically diverse protected area. Bolivia subsequently created Madidi National Park, and biological research such as Identidad Madidi has since has proved Ted was right. We are especially pleased to be sharing this wonderful biological diversity with Bolivia and the world online.”

Members of the public can follow the expedition at www.identidadmadidi.org, and especially at FB/IdentidadMadidi, #IDMadidi.”