In Guinea, the bird's forests are being logged to provide land for rice farming to help support farmers immigrating from the country's drier north.[13]
Laws exist in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana to protect this species, but enforcement in minimal.[19][25] Sony VAIO PCG-3D1M Battery International trading of the White-necked Rockfowl is regulated as the bird is currently listed under CITES Appendix I. Additionally, in 2004 BirdLife International drafted an international action plan to provide strategies for protecting this species.[20] This plan focused on surveying the remaining habitat, raising awareness amongst the local populace, and limiting the continued destruction of its habitat.[20] Sony VAIO PCG-3G2M Battery In 2006, BirdLife International received a US$19,900 grant from the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund to help enact this plan.[31] Surveys conducted with this funding have resulted in the discovery of additional populations in Sierra Leone.[32] Additionally, wardens have been trained to protect Sierra Leone's Western Area Forest Reserve.[32] Sony VAIO PCG-5R1M BatteryThis plan, coupled with the bird's appearance and unusual habits, have led it to become a flagship species for habitat conservation across Africa and particularly in its upper Guinean forests.[32]
Until 2003, the species was thought to be extinct in Ghana. Most of the Ghanaian sites from which it is known are active forest reserves, where logging periodically occurs. Sony VAIO PCG-7162M BatteryOutside of the reserves, bush-burning and mining for gold and other metals threaten remaining habitat. Following its rediscovery in Ghana, the Ghana Wildlife Society has begun to survey remaining habitat and implement conservation strategies.[19]
In the 1950s and 1960s, collecting this species for display in zoos was a major threat, and in Liberia in particular this practice destroyed several of the bird's colonies.[13][25Sony VAIO PCG-7181M Battery The rockfowl were captured by the indigenous peoples through the use of traps, while hunters in Guinea, who were already catching rodents and hyraxes at the bird's nesting colonies, sometimes captured rockfowl at night.[13] In Côte d'Ivoire specimens were sometimes caught by bat-catchers.[13] Most birds collected from the wild die within 24 hours.[13] Sony VAIO PCG-41112M Battery Despite over 70 White-necked Rockfowl being displayed in zoos during the 1970s, captive breeding was a rare occurrence and no stable captive populations have been formed.[13] Despite this, zoos did have limited success and at least one zoo was able to hand-rear a White-necked Rockfowl.[33] As of 2002, no White-necked Rockfowl have existed outside of Africa since 1998. Sony VAIO PCG-7153M Battery The Grey-necked Rockfowl (Picathartes oreas) is a medium-sized bird in the family Picathartidae with a long neck and tail. Also known as the Grey-necked Picathartes, this passerine is mainly found in rocky areas of close-canopied rainforest from southwest Nigeria through Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and southwest Gabon. It additionally lives on the island of Bioko. Sony VAIO PCG-71312M Battery Its distribution is patchy, with populations often isolated from each other. The rockfowl typically chooses to live near streams and inselbergs in its forested habitat. It has no recognized subspecies, though some believe that it forms a superspecieswith the White-necked Rockfowl. The Grey-necked Rockfowl has grey upperparts, a light grey breast, and lemon-coloured underparts. Sony VAIO PCG-7144M Battery Its unusually long tail is used for balance, and its thighs are muscular. The head is nearly featherless, with the exposed skin being powder blue on the forehead and upper mandible and carmine on the hindcrown. The bird’s cheeks and eyes are covered in a large, circular black patch that, though narrow, connects and divides the carmine and powder blue skin at the peak of the crown. Sony VAIO PCG-7191L BatteryThough the bird is usually silent, some calls are known.
This rockfowl feeds primarily on insects, though some plant matter, such as fruit and flower buds, is eaten. One feeding strategy involves following Dorylus army ant swarms, feeding on insects flushed by the ants. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M Battery Rockfowl move through the forest mainly through a series of hops and bounds, or short flights in low vegetation. It travels either alone or in small groups. This species rarely flies for long distances. The Grey-necked Rockfowl is monogamous and pairs nest either alone or in the vicinity of other pairs, sometimes in colonies of two to five nests, though one colony of forty nests has been recorded. Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M Battery These nests are constructed out of mud and are formed into a deep cup that is built on rock surfaces, typically in caves or on cliffs. Two eggs are laid twice a year. Though the birds breed in colonies, infanticide exists in this species, with rockfowl attempting to kill the young of other pairs. Nestlings mature in about a month. Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M Battery This species is classified as Vulnerable as its dwindling and fragmented populations are threatened by habitat destruction. A conservation plan has been drawn up for this species, and research into its current distribution is ongoing. Some of the indigenous peoples of Cameroon either respect this species or, in some cases, fear it. Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M BatteryToday, this rockfowl is considered one of Africa’s most desirable birds by birders and is a symbol of ecotourism across its range.
This species was first described by Anton Reichenow in 1899 from a bird collected at the base of Mount Cameroon near Limbe, Cameroon.[2] He published his description in Ornithologische Monatsberichte and described it as Picathartes oreas.[3] Sony VAIO PCG-8141M Battery The generic name was first used by René-Primevère Lesson in 1828 after he split the Grey-necked Rockfowl's close relative theWhite-necked Rockfowl from the crow genus Corvus and placed it in its own genus, Picathartes, as the White-necked Rockfowl did not share characteristics common to members of Corvus such as a feathered head.[4] Sony VAIO PCG-8161M Battery This generic name comes from a combination of the Latin genera pica for "magpie" and cathartes for "vulture".[5][6] The species name is derived from theAncient Greek word oreas, meaning "mountain".[7] Since its initial description, the picathartes have been placed in more than five different families, including those of crows (Corvidae), starlings (Sturnidae), Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M Battery Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae), babblers (Timaliidae) and Old World warblers (Sylviidae).[8] Today the Grey-necked Rockfowl and the White-necked Rockfowl are believed to comprise a unique family, Picathartidae.[9] Additionally, it has been suggested, though not generally accepted, that the two rockfowl represent the remnants of an ancient bird order.[2] Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M Battery Recent DNA analysis has shown that Picathartidae and its closest relatives, southern Africa's rockjumpers and southeast Asia's Rail-babbler, form a clade.[10] The analysis suggests that the rockfowl split from the common ancestor of their clade 44 million years ago.[10] It is believed that the ancestor of this clade originated in Australia and spread to Africa.[10] Sony PCG-31211T BatteryThough the Grey-necked Rockfowl has no subspecies, it may form a superspecies with the White-necked Rockfowl, with plumage and facial pattern being the main differences between the two species.[9]
This species has numerous common names, including the Grey-necked Rockfowl, Grey-necked Picathartes, Sony PCG-31311T Battery Bare-headed Rockfowl, Red-headed Rockfowl, Blue-headed Picathartes, and Grey-necked Bald Crow.[11][12][13] Rockfowl is a reference to the species' habit of building mud nests on rock surfaces and caves.[14] Picathartes refers to the species' scientific name.[5] Bald Crow is a reference to its featherless head and somewhat crow-like appearance, especially in its beak. Sony PCG-51111T Battery This rockfowl measures approximately 33 to 38 centimetres (13 to 15 in) in length, with its notably long tail contributing about 14 centimetres (5.5 in).[16]This species does not show sexual dimorphism.[15] The adult's head is largely featherless, and the skin on the forehead and forecrown as well as the uppermandible of the beak behind the bird's nostril is a powder blue.[16] Sony PCG-81111T Battery The lower mandible and rest of the upper mandible are black.[16] This beak is unusually large and crow-like at 30 millimetres (1.2 in) in length and is also decurved.[15][17] There are some small, bristle-like feathers located on the crown that can be erected.[15] Behind the crown, the species' bare skin on the hindcrown and nape is carmine in coloration and has a few more bristle-like feathers.[16] Sony PCG-81311T Battery The area between these patches of skin, as well as the lores, cheeks, and ear region, are featherless with black skin.[16] Its eyes are dark brown.[16] The Grey-necked Rockfowl's mantle, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are all grey.[16] The feathers on the rump are long, dense, and silky.[16] Additionally, the tail is grey.[16] Sony VPCF138FC Battery The rockfowl's chin, throat, sides of the neck, and upper breast are all a pale grey.[2] This bird is buffy lemon in colour on its lower breast, belly, flanks, thighs, and undertail coverts, though the flanks can sometimes appear to be greyish.[16] The wing is grey, though the wing's remiges are black, forming a line between the lemon underparts and grey upperparts.[16] Sony VPCF219FC BatteryIts legs and feet are silver-grey and muscular.[15] The adult rockfowl weighs 200 to 250 grams (7.1 to 8.8 oz).[18]
The nestling is born nearly featherless except for tiny primary quills and a fine down along its spine, humerus, forearm, and femur.[16] Its skin is dark pink but displays variable black patches on its upperside.[16] The gape is yellow.[16] Sony VPCS135EC Battery
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