Mekong Wagtail Motacilla samveasnae, a new species for Vietnam

A BirdLife team comprising Le Trong trai and Nguyen Duc Tu have discovered the newly described Mekong Wagtail Motacilla samveasnae during a survey of the Srepok River in Yok Don National Park, Vietnam. This was the main finding of a short survey organized and lead by BirdLife as part of the Creating Protected Areas for Resource Conservation using Landscape Ecology (PARC) Project at Yok Don National Park, which is being implemented by the Forest Protection Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in association with Scott Wilson Asia Pacific Ltd, and with final support from the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme.

The short survey was undertaken to collect baseline biodiversity data along the western section of the Srepok River in Yok Don National Park from 26 November to 1 December 2002. At least three pairs of Mekong Wagtails were observed over a distance of 10 km along the river. The species was found along fast flowing sections of the river up to 200 m wide, where scatterd bushes and snagged logs were encountered. The species was recorded almost daily during the survey on 27, 28 and 30 November, and 1 December 2002. This discovery marks a significant addition to the birds of Vietnam and again demonstrates the conservation importance of the last undisturbed stretch of the Srepok River in Vietnam.