Researchers Capture Extremely Rare Bird — Then Clinically Kill It For Scientific Study

A rare and elusive bird, which has only been spotted in the wild once before, was caught on camera for the first time in history by U.S. scientists two weeks ago.

The scientists marvelled at the exotic plumage and robust good health of the rarely seen male moustached kingfisher, which has eluded the human eye since the 1920s, and whose voice and habits are poorly known – and then they systematically killed it for research purposes.

The cold-blooded slaughter of the elusive blue bird, which has a proud history of eluding detection, has angered many who have claimed the killing of the kingfisher “sets a horrific precedent for future research.”

Oscar Wilde once famously wrote “Each man kills the thing he loves, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!” Yet it would appear the scientist does it with a remote air or attachment bordering on the psychopathic, and an inquiring mind that is as callous as it is curious.

The Express reports that the male moustached kingfisher was spotted in September, innocently minding its own business in the remote moss jungle highlands of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

The “ghost species” has been sought by researcher Chris Filardi for nearly 20 years. Filardi was working in the Solomon Islands, surveying endemic biodiversity, and although he admits his hopes of finding a male moustached kingfisher were slim, he remained optimistic.

Upon the third morning of his expedition, Filardi’s dreams were about to become a reality when he heard the unmistakable “ko-ko-ko-kokokokokokokoko-kiew” of a bird that could only be a large forest kingfisher.

Waiting for what he describes as an “eternity,” Filardi’s patience was rewarded with another cry, and then a vision of symmetry and movement he hadn’t dared to dream his mortal eye would ever frame.

“Within moments our eyes caught movement: a large shadow of wings and a thick body abruptly stopped in a tangle. Our recordist Frank Lambert saw the bird first and called me over. There in plain sight pumping its tail, crest alert, in full colors, was the moustached kingfisher. And then, like a ghost, it was gone.”

The male moustached kingfisher had disappeared back into the realms of fancy and uncharted wilderness, which had protected its species from the lethal curiosity of man for decades, yet only for a moment.

The kingfisher, at best, had three days grace to enjoy what was left of its life in its natural habitat before Filardi and his tenacious gang came calling.

“We set fine “mist” nets out in the forest with the hope of capturing an individual, and after a cloud-raked morning of dripping rains and cold winds, we captured a male bird, identifiable by its magnificent all-blue back (females have greenish backs).”

Thrilled with his prestigious catch, Filardi waxes somewhat lyrical about the entrapment of a winged spirit who was finally netted, and no longer sovereign of the skies or proud prince of the airy realms, but future lab rat and prized guinea pig.

“When I came upon the netted bird in the cool shadowy light of the forest I gasped aloud, ‘Oh my god, the kingfisher.’ One of the most poorly known birds in the world was there, in front of me, like a creature of myth come to life.”

The “creature of myth” may have come to life, but it was soon routinely destroyed, cut up, and classified.

Experts believe there are as few as 250 male moustached kingfishers left in the world. We can probably now make that 249.

And even though Paul Sweet from the American Museum of Natural History said its population was substantial enough to withstand the loss, Professor Marc Bekoff slammed the decision to kill this almost mythical bird.

“It is wrong and sets a horrific precedent for future research and for children.

“Imagine what a youngster would think if he or she heard something like, ‘I met a rare and gorgeous bird today… and I killed him’.”

“Even if this handsome male were a member of a common species, there was no reason to kill him.

“It sickens me that this practice continues and I hope more people will work hard to put an end to it right now, before more fascinating animals are killed.”

[Image Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images/Wikimedia Commons]