Although it was first reported in East Asia several years ago, it seems to be a species still really known only to scientists, experts and newspaper journalists, and is already found in the annals of the FAO, WHO and other austere serious bodies with names made up of two or three letters (so it really does exist).

I do know that some people, when confronted by it, have called it Bar-headed Goose, others Pochard, for a while Ruddy Shelduck, for a day Pintail and Garganey, for a few hours some seabird (even for a few minutes, Tree Sparrow!…It might be a little unkind of me, but I heard in this last case that their identification skills cannot be trusted).

Maybe, following the (German?) method of lumping-nouns-together-to-form-a-single-word it can be named more confidently here: “The Pelagic Ruddy-headed Pintailed Shelgar-Swanrail“, an extremely complex species with a long name and a VERY long migration - from China through Siberia, down through Euope into Nigeria and then up across the Arctic Circle into America, and presumably, following logical assumption, back round through Indonesia into China?

Although it is considered by some to be part-waterbird part-seabird, it seems to feed or breed almost entirely near (or even in) chicken farms - the tighter the security the better (it must be a very sociable bird and a nervous one, needing the extra protection?).

It is very well camouflaged, and expert ornithologists we contacted said that at night its nocturnal plumage allows it to blend in with truck wheels, while others suggest that this is far too fanciful a view, and that simply it looks more like a chicken. Indeed some experts have concluded, based on extensive genetic studies, that it does not belong to a new genus at all, but rather it is simply a fast-evolving member of the Rail family, as it seems to migrate specially along railway lines (some claim that its closest relative are the Snoring Rail, and the Invisible Rail, so that a better name for it would be Sneezing Rail?), while still others suggest that it is perhaps closest to a Roadrunner.

Anyway, what we do KNOW is that its there, and that its quite widespread, and spreading. It is an aggressive species that likes to go and cough and spit on some poor passing duck or swan, almost only in wetlands near poultry farms. From direct field observations of a lot of very clever people, this is considered to irritate the waterbirds, so that they also then leave the lakes and walk into the farms (perhaps where they seem to know that they can find clean water and safe food for a few days?), before they return to some wetland to die. This creates an impossible economic burden on the poor farmer, of course, and clearly it is not good for hygiene.

The answer is what should we do about this? Clearly we must follow the experts and their scientific opinion. We need better biosecurity, more economic support for the poor poultry industry, and we need to get rid of those irritating wild birds that come near farms and cities. Wild in name, wild in nature. Terrible.

Finally, without sounding sappy or over-idealistic, is it not just wonderful to live in this enlightened age of scientific reason, when we can base our actions on real science and experts who help make us see things? Can you even imagine how it must have been in days when people believed in superstition or myths just to explain phenomena that didn’t match their preconceived and fixed opinions? Incredible!”