Scientists discover new species in the deep forests of Borneo and the Amazon all the time, but finding a new species of bird in the well-trodden United States of America? Now that's a bird of an all-together different feather:
For the first time in almost four decades, a new bird species has been discovered in the United States.
But there’s a catch: the Bryan’s shearwater was identified in a museum collection. Though others have been reported, the first living bird-in-hand example awaits finding.
“I’m pretty certain it’s still out there,” said Peter Pyle, an institution at the Institute for Bird Populations. [...]
While newly-discovered bird species are not rare in the deep jungles of South America and South Asia, P. bryani is the first new U.S. bird since 1974, when the Po’ouli was found in Maui.
“Many ornithologists dream of discovering new species,” said Pyle. “Some are still doing that down in the Amazon. But to find one in our backyard is surprising.”