A wetland bird that has eluded ornithologists for nearly 140 years has been seen in Thailand. The large-billed reed-warbler (Acrocephalus orinus) was spotted by ornithologist Philip Round of Mahidol University, Bangkok, near a wastewater treatment plant, notes a recent announcement by Bird-Life International, a uk- based conservation group.

A single bird of the species was last spotted in the Sutlej valley in Himachal Pradesh in 1867. But due to its rarity, scientists had long debated if the bird represented a true species or was a variation of a common species.

"So little is known about the species that it is officially classified on the iucn Red List as