Not extinct after all: a flash of orange brings a lost bird back after 13 years

The bird on the bridge was orange, grey and — to the two researchers watching — unmistakable. In Côte d'Ivoire's Taï National Park, field fellows Paulo Ditzel and Stephanie Bartlett photographed the Ghana cuckooshrike, a species last verifiably seen in Ghana's Atewa Forest in 2013 and carried ever since on the Search for Lost Birds list. Of more than 11,000 bird species, only 114 had escaped documentation for a decade or more. John Mittermeier of the American Bird Conservancy, who directs the search, called the pictures 'probably the best photos ever taken of this bird.' For Yendoubouam Kourdjouak, the project's West Africa manager, the meaning is plain: 'This rediscovery proves that the bird is not extinct — it's also a positive sign for local biodiversity and offers hope for conservation efforts within Taï National Park.' A species written into the 'lost' column, back in the 'found' one — with the photographs to prove it.

SDG 15 · Life on land