A new species of bird, called the ‘Hanuman Plover’ has been discovered in Sri Lanka by a team of researchers from the University of Colombo, the News First reported.

The new bird (Shore Bird), which is a sub-species of the Kentish plover (Charadrius Alexandrinus), has been located from the shoreline of Sri Lanka close to Mannar, Jaffna, and Hambantota District wetlands as well as the Chain of Islands from Mannar to Koneswaram, India.

The Colombo University researchers reported that the wetlands are important for migrant birds and breeding birds in Sri Lanka as well as the shorebirds.

Taking into consideration the phylogeny and the genomic region using various methods, the researchers have concluded that the sub-species is a separate species.

As a result, the new species has been named as the Hanuman Plover, to signify the affinity of Hanuman into Rama’s Bridge and critical areas for shorebirds in Sri Lanka.

The researchers have pointed out that the bird is white in color and is the size of a robin and it breeds in the wetlands in Sri Lanka.

The new species of bird was reportedly discovered by Dr. Sampath Seneviratne from the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences at the University of Colombo, Professor Yang Liu from China, and under-graduate research student Jude Janitha Niroshan.