Orthotomus chaktomuk (lat.) Is a species of small birds of the tailor genus (Orthotomus) from the cysticola family (Cisticolidae). Southeast Asia. An endemic of Cambodia , which was first discovered in 2009 (during the collection of birds to study bird flu ) and described as a new taxon for science in 2013 [1] .
| Orthotomus chaktomuk |
Orthotomus chaktomuk |
| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| View: | Orthotomus chaktomuk |
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| International scientific name |
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Orthotomus chaktomuk Mahood et al. , 2013 |
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Content
A small bird the size of a European wren . The length of the wing is 41–47 mm, the length of the tail is 35.5–42 mm, the mass is 6–8 g. The head (forehead and back of the head) are covered with orange-red feathers, the cheeks are whitish, the throat with black feathers. The rest of the body is from light to dark gray [1] .
It lives in a small area of dense shrubs in the floodplain of the Mekong River [2] . Thanks to dense thickets, this species has gone unnoticed for so long, despite living on the outskirts of the large metropolitan city of Phnom Penh . This is one of the two endemic species of birds in Cambodia, the other and the only one was [3] .
Ornithologists who discovered Orthotomus chaktomuk recommend including it in the international Red Book published by IUCN as “a species close to extinction” [2] . They believe that its habitats are shrinking and are in danger of extinction as a result of increased urbanization [3] .
The species name O. chaktomuk comes from the Khmer word ចតុមុខ , which means “four faces”. This is how the habitat of this bird is described where such rivers and reservoirs as the Mekong , Bassak and Tonle Sap are found [4] .
