. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. Birds. Ben D. Marks et al. 152 Bull. 2004 124(2) Grimes (1964, Grimes & Darku 1968), the latter summarising results from a 1966 survey. Since the 1960s, attempts to locate this species in Ghana have been unsuccessful (John Mason pers. comm.). As a result, it was widely believed that P. gymnocephalus had been extirpated from Ghanaian forests. Here we report on the recent rediscovery of P. gymnocephalus in the Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana. On 14-30 March 2003 we conducted an avifaunal survey in a block of forest reserves in Brong-Ahafo Regi


. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. Birds. Ben D. Marks et al. 152 Bull. 2004 124(2) Grimes (1964, Grimes & Darku 1968), the latter summarising results from a 1966 survey. Since the 1960s, attempts to locate this species in Ghana have been unsuccessful (John Mason pers. comm.). As a result, it was widely believed that P. gymnocephalus had been extirpated from Ghanaian forests. Here we report on the recent rediscovery of P. gymnocephalus in the Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana. On 14-30 March 2003 we conducted an avifaunal survey in a block of forest reserves in Brong-Ahafo Region. Our survey relied heavily on a line of 26 consec- utively-strung mist-nets running along the boundary line between Ayum and Subim forest reserves (06°71 'N, 02°73'W). The forest in this region is dominated by Celtis spp., Ceiba and Pterogota tree species and has many large boulders and rocky outcrops. On 26 March 2003 at 1040 h we mist-netted a P. gymnocephalus (Fig. 1), videotaped, photographed and released it unharmed. On 28 March 2003 we showed the video of the Picathartes to a local hunter in Asumura to discover whether he was familiar with the species. He immediately recognised the bird and told us that he had encountered at least three individuals in the nearby forest reserves. He reported some of the life history attributes of the species, such as breeding period (the fifth month of the year) and nest site. On 30 March he led us to a nest site. The nests were located on a boulder m high with a cave-like overhanging face sloping at a steep angle down to the ground. The two nests were constructed from mud and plant fibres, attached to the overhang with the cup of the nest forming a semi-circle cm wide, 15 cm high, and 15 cm deep. They were positioned less than 1 m apart at approximately the same height ( m). On the floor of the shelter formed by the. Figure 1. Picathartes gynmochepalus mist-netted in Ghana on 26 March 2003 (J. D. Weckstein & B. D. M


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