Bugun Liocichla: A Quest to See this Rare Gem of the Northeast

The story of the Bugun liocichla (Liocichla bugunorum), a bird endemic to a small area of Arunachal Pradesh, is one of momentous discovery. In 1996, Ramana Athreya, an astronomer and ecologist from Pune spotted two birds at Lama Camp, a two-square-kilometre area within what is now the Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve (SBVCR). When he first recorded spotting them in his diary, he realised they were like other liocichlas in the forest (Genus: Liocichla; Family: Leiothrichidae). However, he suspected that the distinct markings on their tails and wings indicated that these birds were a different species, perhaps one that had never been documented before. Athreya finally scientifically documented this as new species in 2006. This finding is a significant ornithological discovery and Athreya has won several awards for it.

Liocichlas are found in Asia from India to China and southeast Asia. They share a common ancestor with other birds like leiothrixes, barwings, minlas, and sibias.

In 2003, Ramana Athreya and Indi Glow (a respected Bugun conservationist) launched the Eaglenest Biodiversity Project to document the area’s biodiversity and initiate bird conservation and ecotourism. In 2006, Athreya named the bird after the Bugun tribe of Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district, to highlight their biodiversity conservation efforts, namely, sustainable low-impact, high-income bird tourism. The bird became the icon of Eaglenest Tourism, promoting local community conservation efforts and their livelihood. The tribe was happy and proud to have a bird species named after it. It became a badge of identity for them, and killing it was banned.

In 2008, thanks to the enormous efforts of the project, the Supreme Court of India terminated a construction plan for a proposed highway running through the Bugun liocichla’s core range (now SBVCR). The government released a postage stamp with the bird’s image in 2012.

In 2017, in consultation with the Bugun tribe, the state government notified 17 square kilometres of land as the Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve (SBVCR) to protect the bird and its habitat. This area lies adjacent to the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Sessa Orchid Sanctuary in Arunchal Pradesh. The following year, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India (in conjunction with the UNDP) conferred on the SBVCR Management Committee the India Biodiversity Award.

In October 2023, I set out for the remote forests of SBVCR in search of the critically endangered Bugun Liocichla. Only around 14-20 birds remain, and they are endemic to this forest around Glowbari and Lama Camp in SBVCR. I was excited and eager to see them while also wondering how they had escaped detection by scientists until so recently. I had to see the bird for myself!

SBVCR forest is a lush, untouched expanse of natural beauty and a great diversity of plant and animal life. Towering tropical trees provided a dense canopy and a serene and secluded atmosphere. I even caught sight of some maple trees there. The air was laden with the sweet fragrance of flowers and leaves while sunlight filtering through cast dappled patterns on the forest floor. Crystal-clear streams added to the tranquillity. The symphony of birds, rustling leaves, and occasional animal calls enhanced my sense of purpose — to see the Bugun liocichla.

I met my birding guide, Gorey, near the Ramaling settlement, a small cluster of houses enroute to the sanctuary. As our car climbed up to our accommodations, we had to register ourselves and our camera equipment at a checkpoint, from where we entered the restricted SBVCR. An attractive poster carrying a cute cartoon of the Bugun liocichla said, “The pride and dedication of the Bugun tribe of Singchung…”. I felt a thrill run through me. I was here.

After a further climb of 15 minutes Gorey asked the driver to stop the car. We got out and Gorey pointed to an off-beat track and pointed upwards, saying that this was Bugun liocichla territory. He shared that the bird was a year-round resident in the forest and did not migrate from its territory of two square kilometres as there was ample food for the omnivore — mostly invertebrates and berries — present within this range. I looked him in the eye and declared that I had to spot the bird on this visit. He smiled back, shrugged, and said, “We’ll see,” he replied enigmatically.

We settled into our room at Lama Camp, at an elevation range of 1,800-2,500 m. The Camp is named after the Dalai Lama, whose entourage slept there for a night in 1959 while fleeing Tibet. The camp affords breathtaking views of the snow-capped Gorichen peaks. It has simple facilities: a raised, bare wooden cottage with two beds, and attached bathroom with running water (and hot water supplied in buckets). Meals are home-style soup, and rice-dal-vegetables. Gorey briefed us on the plans for the next day. We were to start early, around 5 am.

Dawn breaks early in Northeast India. At 5 am the next morning we began our birding expedition with eagerness and enthusiasm. Although it was light, the atmosphere was foggy. There was a lot of dew as the temperature had dropped to 9 degrees Celsius. My camera lens kept getting hazy and I worried about the quality of my photos. As the sun rose higher, the haziness disappeared, and visibility became sharper.

We walked around, spotting various birds, including Ward’s trogon, and the yellow-rumped honeyguide — two birds on everyone’s list when they visit Eaglenest and SBVCR. I was thrilled to see them, but deep inside, my heart pined for a glimpse of the Bugun liocichla. Around 11 am, while walking on a path, we heard its distinct call — sweet and melodious — a distinctive series of 3-4 mellow descending whistles. Gorey stated that during April-May, the mating period, they were louder. My heart skipped a beat with happiness at being near this bird.

We halted. Frozen to the spot, we strained our eyes to examine two small trees where we hoped to catch a glimpse of the bird. The chorus increased. Clearly, there were multiple birds at the spot. I could tell from the movement inside the tree branches that they were hopping around.

From my research I knew that Bugun liocichlas (males and females) are around 22 cm long with greyish-olive bodies, a black cap, and two yellow spots in front of and behind their eyes. The wings have a broad yellow patch in the middle and crimson and white patches near the tips. Males have flame-coloured tail tips and vent feathers and females yellow-tipped tails and vent feathers.

My eyes flitted around the branches. Once, I thought I glimpsed a grey blob, so I directed my camera and clicked without really focusing on any single point.

After a while, the calls subsided. While the realisation of encountering Bugun liocichlas was exhilarating, it was laced with the disappointment of not clearly sighting the birds. Gorey told us it was rare to encounter the bird at all, and that birders that had come to SBVCR a dozen times had still not been graced with its presence. Perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky that we had heard its calls. Was Gorey trying to comfort us or was he merely stating the truth? We ran into an American birdwatcher who lived in China and had visited the are eleven times but only spotted the Bugun Liocichla twice (on his seventh visit). He had never managed to capture a clear image of the bird. Perhaps the species was indeed very elusive!

With the Bugun liocichla’s music resonating in our ears and the resolve to revisit SBVCR thumping in our hearts we returned home. Later, when I zoomed into the photos I had taken randomly at the site of the Bugun liocichlas, I could see two vague blobs of grey to the right of one photograph. Strangely, even this unclear suggestion of the bird’s presence on my lens was comforting.