One of Vietnam’s rarest birds has been discovered in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum, extending its known global range and bringing hope that it may not be as endangered as scientists had feared.

One of Vietnam’s rarest birds has been discovered in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum, extending its known global range and bringing hope that it may not be as endangered as scientists had feared.

A report on the blog of the Birdlife International, a global partnership of bird conservation organizations, said a pair of grey-crowned Crocias (Crocias langbianbis) was found by David Bishop, leader of a professional bird tour, on March 19.

Bishop works with the US-based Victor Emanuel Nature Tour, which specializes in bird watching tours, newswire Dan Tri reported Thursday.

The latest discovery reveals that the bird’s habitat has extended by some 300 kilometers northwards from its known habitat in the Central Highlands provinces of Lam Dong and Dak Lak, the blog quoted Le Trong Trai, senior program officer with Birdlife Vietnam Program, as saying.

Locally known as Mi Langbiang or Mi nui ba, the bird is one of the least known in Asia, and is listed as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It was first described by Count Gyldenstople, a Swedish aristocrat, in 1939, from his observations of three specimens collected at an unknown locality by an adventurer, the blog said.

The species was discovered again in 1994 at Chu Yang Sin National Park in Dak Lak Province.