Search for Lost Birds / 20 Jul 2026 / Ghana Cuckooshrike
Stephanie Bartlett and Paulo Ditzel, researchers with the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), had joked about the possibility of encountering a Ghana Cuckooshrike during their six-month project in West Africa, but the chances of actually finding one had seemed vanishingly small. The cuckooshrike was one of the most rarely seen birds in Africa and there had been no documented records of it since 2013.
That all changed one afternoon in the forest in Taï National Park, a large park in the southwestern Ivory Coast. Bartlett and Ditzel were crossing a small bridge when a flicker or movement in the canopy caught their attention. As they peered into the dense foliage, they immediately recognized the unique combination of yellow, orange, and black on the bird above them. “Cuckooshrike, cuckooshrike, cuckooshrike!” Bartlett had her camera ready and snapped a series of photos and even a short video clip of the bird before it disappeared a few moments later. It was the first documented recorded of a Ghana Cuckooshrike since one had been photographed at Atewa Forest, Ghana, thirteen years earlier and the likely the first-ever video taken of the species.
To learn more Bartlett and Ditzel’s incredible sighting, read the full story on the International Bird Conservation Partnership website: https://www.birdpartners.org/post/lost-bird-found-ghana-cuckooshrike-documented-in-taï-national-park-ivory-coast
Found only in canopy of the West Africa’s lowland rainforest, the Ghana Cuckooshrike, also known as the Western Wattled Cuckooshrike, is considered globally Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List.
Following the rediscovery of Rusty Lark in Chad in February 2026 and Togo Yellow-billed Barbet in January 2022, all of the currently lost birds in West Africa have now been found – an incredible result!