Bird not seen for 13 years photographed in Côte d’Ivoire — Mongabay

In Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire, researchers photographed a brightly colored bird of the species Lobotos lobatus, known in English as the Ghana cuckooshrike. The species was last scientifically documented in 2013 in the Atewa Forest in Ghana, Mongabay reports.

A photo for identification

The photograph was taken by International Bird Conservation Partnership field researcher Stephanie Bartlett. Her colleague, Paulo Dietzel, alerted her to the bird’s movements in the forest. Bartlett noted that she first obtained a photograph suitable for identification and only then saw the bird itself.

The image shows a small bird with an orange body and black and yellow wings. The researchers were working as part of multi-month bird surveys involving a team of West African specialists.

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Habitat under threat

Ornithologists believe that the range of Lobotos lobatus extends from Guinea to Ghana within the Upper Guinean rainforest. The species’ likely habitats have shrunk due to logging and agriculture, leaving isolated forest patches.

The species was added to the Search for Lost Birds platform, which tracks birds that have not been scientifically documented for more than 10 years. Without verified sightings, researchers did not have sufficient data on the bird’s population size and conservation status. Scientists also stressed that Taï National Park, a biodiversity hotspot, is threatened by artisanal gold mining and illegal hunting.