Birds
Lost Ghana cuckooshrike photographed after 13 years
Researchers in Côte d’Ivoire have captured the first photographic evidence of the rare forest songbird since it was last documented in 2013.
Reported by Mongabay · · 1 min read
A rare West African bird species has been photographed in Côte d’Ivoire for the first time in thirteen years, according to wildlife researchers. Field biologists spotted the vibrant Ghana cuckooshrike within the canopy of Taï National Park, confirming that the elusive creature continues to survive in the region.
The identification came through an image captured by Stephanie Bartlett, a field fellow with the International Bird Conservation Partnership. Working alongside colleague Paulo Ditzel, who tracked the bird among the branches, Bartlett managed to photograph the creature before seeing it directly. Her photo revealed an orange-bodied bird with wings marked in yellow and black.
Prior to this encounter, scientists had not documented the Ghana cuckooshrike, known scientifically as Lobotos lobatus, since 2013 in the Atewa Forest of Ghana. Because more than a decade elapsed without verified records, the species was placed on the Search for Lost Birds register, a project cataloging avian wildlife absent from recent scientific observation.
Habitat loss across regional forests The cuckooshrike is believed to range across West African forests extending from Guinea to Ghana. However, widespread logging and expanding agriculture have whittled away large sections of its native environment, leaving isolated woodland fragments and leaving researchers unsure whether the species had become extinct, critically reduced, or simply overlooked in dense canopies.
John Mittermeier, director of the Search for Lost Birds at the American Bird Conservancy, noted that establishing effective conservation measures is extremely difficult when an animal remains unobserved for a decade. Without current sightings, experts cannot pinpoint where surviving individuals persist or evaluate their population health.
The expedition succeeded thanks to months of field surveys conducted with West African scientists, including Saint Guillaume Odoukpe from Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Researchers highlighted that finding the bird emphasizes the ecological value of Taï National Park, an essential haven that faces persistent pressure from illicit hunting and small-scale gold mining.
