In the humid jungle of Vietnam, Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela and Monte Neate-Clegg spent hours patiently waiting to spot the rare “Halloween bird.” Officially known as the Collared Laughingthrush, this songbird has striking orange, silver, and black coloring and a distinct, singsong call.
In the humid jungle of Vietnam, Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela and Monte Neate-Clegg spent hours patiently waiting to spot the rare “Halloween bird.” Officially known as the Collared Laughingthrush, this songbird has striking orange, silver, and black coloring and a distinct, singsong call. It’s extremely valuable and heavily traded as a pet in Vietnam, and is considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Their pursuit of the Halloween bird led the two University of California, Santa Cruz scholars to launch an investigation into the connection between a bird’s color and its extinction-risk status worldwide.
“We were crouched there in the gloom waiting for this enigmatic bird to appear, and as we sat, we pondered whether the pet trade differentially affects colorful birds, and if this would be reflected in their threat categories. This idea, like many of our others, was born out of conversations in the field while observing birds,” said Ocampo-Peñuela, an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Department. “I also have a fascination with color, and have always wanted to investigate how being colorful might imperil birds, or might even help save them from extinction.”
Read more at: University of California Santa Cruz
The striking Collared Laughingthrush, or "Halloween bird," served as in inspiration for this research. (Photo Credit: JJ Harrison)
