Podcast: Play in new window
BOB HIRSHON (host):
A song only a biologist could love. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
[Sumatran ground cuckoo call]
HIRSHON:
This is the call of the rare Sumatran Ground Cuckoo. And while you probably wouldn’t want to hear it on the hour from your clock, it’s music to the ears of scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Biologist Peter Clyne says their quest to record the song finally ended when a local hunter trapped a live one and called the society.
PETER CLYNE (Wildlife Conservation Society):
We hope to be able to take these calls that we have and go out into the forest and play them and elicit responses from Sumatran Ground Cuckoos that are actually out there. And from that get a much fuller sense of the distribution and hopefully also some population estimates.
HIRSHON:
And as for the ground cuckoo that got caught in the trap—it’s recovering from a foot injury. The scientists hope it will be well enough to return to the wild again soon.
I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.