On October 10, 2000, a bird's song attracted the attention of ornithologists Daniel Lane and Gary Rosenberg as they led a tour group on the Kosñipata road in southeastern Peru. The captivating warble came from the forested hillside. Rosenberg recorded the sound while Lane surveyed the area with his binoculars. The latter then spotted the bird on a branch, and the two got a glimpse of the bird. It was a yellow bird with a pink bill. It was a bird unknown to the region.
Unfortunately, the ornithologists had to leave the area that day, but they would return to look for the mystery bird. They would find the bird again almost after three years, on October 7, 2003. This time, they got a good view of it, and one pointed out the similarity between the bird and Uma Thurman's character in Kill Bill (the yellow tracksuit). The bird earned the nickname The Kill Bill Tanager, and it became a legend among ornithologists.
The bird was just recently given an official name 21 years after its sighting: the Inti Tanager. Because of its very different features, the bird was classified as a new genus.
More about this over at Audubon.
(Image Credit: Daniel Lane)
#Ornithology #Tanager #Taxonomy
First sketch of the "Kill Bill Tanager" by Daniel Lane in 2000.