‘Lost’ bird reappears in West Africa’s forests after more than a decade

In a remarkable turn of events, a bird long thought lost has been spotted once again in the forests of West Africa. Field research fellows Paulo Ditzel and Stephanie Bartlett made the astonishing discovery. Ditzel, a fellow with the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), described the bird as a "vibrant orange body with yellow and black wings and tail feathers, topped by a dark head set off by almost-whimsical splashes of copper on its cheek."

The moment the bird captured Ditzel's attention, he immediately recognized it as a Ghana cuckooshrike. The sighting occurred near an ecological research station in Côte d’Ivoire's Taï National Park. Ditzel and Bartlett, both IBCP field research fellows, coordinated their efforts to capture an image of the elusive bird. Bartlett, also an IBCP fellow, noted that during their six months of bird surveys in West Africa, they had only caught fleeting glimpses of the region's birds due to their natural wariness of humans.

Ditzel and Bartlett's discovery of the Ghana cuckooshrike reignites hopes for the conservation of this species, which had not been seen for more than a decade.