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Photographer Accidentally Snaps First-Ever Picture Of Rare 'Lost Species'



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Photographer Accidentally Snaps First-Ever Picture Of Rare 'Lost Species'

“What a historical find!”

By Alana Francis-Crow

Earlier this year, wildlife photographer Tom Vierus set out on a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) photography expedition on Papua New Guinea’s island New Britain. During his trip, he photographed multiple different bird species but didn’t recognize all of them.

One of the birds he didn’t recognize had a gray body, orange face and red around their eyes. He uploaded a photo of this mystery bird to iNaturalist, a community-based animal and plant identification platform to try to find out who they were. The comments he saw under his photo shocked him.







One commenter suggested that the bird he posted was a New Britain goshawk. Below that suggestion, another commenter wrote: “Is this legit? It’s supposed to be a lost species.”

At the time of Vierus’ photo, the last documentation of the New Britain goshawk was recorded in 1969 and kept at the Museum of Natural History in New York. The bird had never once been photographed.

Several other iNaturalist commenters confirmed that the bird was, in fact, a New Britain goshawk, and Vierus was the first ever to snap a photo of one.

“I wasn’t aware of the significance at the time,” Vierus said in a WWF press release. “It was such a great surprise that this photo seems to be the first ever of this ‘lost species!’”







Vierus' now-famous photo almost didn't happen — he snapped it on a whim. 

"The goshawk was very far away, and I only noticed it in a blink of a moment while photographing a different bird nearby," Vierus told The Dodo.

It’s important to note that while the New Britain goshawk was considered “lost,” there have been several sightings of the rare bird by Papuans, Austronesians and other indigenous people who live on the island. In local languages, the bird is called keango or kulingapa.

Even though people may associate the bird’s orange face with colorful birds like parrots or macaws, the New Britain goshawk is actually a raptor. Like other raptors, they’re carnivores who have excellent eyesight.

Unfortunately, the elusive bird is classified as a vulnerable species because of habitat loss. Vierus hopes that his photo will inspire increased conservation efforts.

Instagram profile

“It is wonderful to see how conservationInstagram profile photography can help in safeguarding areas by documenting the existing biodiversity and also a good reminder of how important visual storytelling is,” Vierus said.

Bird lovers from around the world have been thrilled to finally get a look at the bird who evaded photographers for decades.

“What a historical find!” one commenter wrote on iNaturalist.

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