Jerdon’s babbler (Chrysomma altirostre) was originally described by British naturalist T. C. Jerdon in January 1862. Jordan found the bird in the grassy plains around Thayetmyo. When the 20th century started the animals were common in the natural grassland of the flood plains around Yangon.

Over the course of the 20th century, the grasslands have been replaced by agriculture and human communities. The last confirmed sighting of a Jerdon’s babbler was in July of 1941 or that was the last confirmed sighting until May of 2014.

While visiting an abandoned agricultural station that still had grasslands attached to it a team of researchers led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) heard the birds call.

Excited to confirm what they had heard, the scientists made a recording of the call and began playing it back. Soon after an adult Jerdon’s babbler came to investigate the sounds. Over the next 48 hours the team managed to collect blood samples and high quality photographs of numerous specimens of the bird.

“The degradation of these vast grasslands had led many to consider this subspecies of Jerdon’s Babbler extinct. This discovery not only proves that the species still exists in Myanmar but that the habitat can still be found as well. Future work is needed to identify remaining pockets of natural grassland and develop systems for local communities to conserve and benefit from them,” Said Colin Poole, in a statement. Poole is the Director of WCS’s Regional Conservation Hub in Singapore.

The return of the Jerdon’s babbler is described in Birding Asia, the magazine of the Oriental Bird Club.

In total, three species of Jerdon’s babbler are found in Myanmar in the Indus, Bhramaputra, and Ayeyarwady River basins in South Asia. Each of the three have subtle differences and could still prove to be distinctive species.

DNA samples from the birds have been submitted to the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Science for analysis. The results of those dests will help to determine whether Jerdon’s babbler in Myanmar should be considered a full species.

If it is, in fact, a distinctive species it would be considered extremely endangered because of its diminished and fragmented habitat.

“Our sound recordings indicate that there may be pronounced bioacoustic differences between the Myanmar subspecies and those further west, and genetic data may well confirm the distinctness of the Myanmar population,” said Explained Assistant Professor Frank Rheindt of the Department.

The discovery was made during a larger study by WCS, NUS and Myanmar’s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division. The team is attempting to understand the genetics of Myanmar’s bird population in order to quantify the species diversity in the country.

Myanmar has a greater number of bird species than any other country in Southeast Asia. The total number of species is expected to increase when the current survey is complete.

The team is hopeful that Jerdon’s babbler may not be the only extinct species to be rediscovered over the course of the study. The the pink-headed duck, last seen in 1949 and the white-eyed river martin, last seen in 1978 are two animals that they are looking for especially.

“There’s a slim chance some [pink-headed ducks] may still hang on in northern Myanmar—a challenge for any budding ornithologist to go out and make a name for themselves by rediscovering it. Against the odds, these species are sometimes able to hang on,” Richard Thomas, a council member of the Oriental Bird Club told National Geographic.