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The robin was carefully compared to other previously described robins.
© Joel Cracraft |
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A young robin.
© Joel Cracraft |
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Drawers Full of Specimens Hold a Surprise
The forest robin was known to occur in the Dzanga-Sangha rain forest, and the scientists collected a few. "We thought this was just an ordinary forest robin," readily admits Dr. Cracraft. "But when we got back to the museum and began comparing it to many other specimens from Central and West Africa, we're looking at this bird and we're saying 'It is very, very different.' It's got a bright yellow-red throat and a yellow belly. And no other species has this. And it was very, very exciting." The bird's sound and vocalizations also set it apart from other robins.
And a Whole Lot of Legwork
"It's not a single moment," Beresford points out. "And first, you want to make sure, you call in other people you work with." That was only the first step. Next, the ornithologists went to look at forest robins--"over three hundred by now," says Beresford--in other museums in Europe and across North America. "It took nine or ten months to really convince ourselves that we hadn't just found some odd variant."
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