Photographer: Greg de Klerk   Destination: Ghana

This fascinating looking bird is the mythical White-necked Rockfowl and is one of two members of the family Picathartidae. This truly bizarre family of birds has been a real puzzle for ornithologists to work through over the years. In times gone by Rockfowl have been placed in no less than 5 different families including Crows, Starlings, Old World Flycatchers, Babblers, and Old-World Warblers! These days they are placed in the unique family Picathartidae of which they are the only members. Interestingly the Rockfowls closest relatives are the Rockjumpers of South Africa and the Rail-babbler of SE Asia.
 
The Rockfowl are often considered to be one of Africa’s most desirable birds to see by birders worldwide. Our featured species, the White-necked Rockfowl, is endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa and is native to Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. The other member of the family, the Grey-necked Rockfowl, occurs in deep forest zones in Cameroon, Gabon and Central Africa Republic.

Rockfowl are typically found in rocky, hilly terrain in lowland primary and secondary forests and often live near streams and rivers so that they can have access to wet mud for constructing their interesting mud-cup nests that are built under rocky overhangs or in caves. 

Ghana is famously the most accessible and easiest country to try and see this unique family and the striking White-necked Rockfowl is undoubtedly one of the country’s most impressive species. The best way to try and see a Rockfowl is to know where a nesting site is and then patiently wait for the birds to come in during the evening. Even then their approach to the nesting area is effortless as they bound stealthily from one branch to another. They are mostly silent and are very infrequently seen away from nesting areas. 

Ghana is arguably the most ideal West African birdwatching destination given its friendly people, reasonable infrastructure, and overall coverage of the key habitats from coastal lagoons and wetlands to lowland and hill forests, broad-leaved Guinea savanna woodlands and even some Sahelian savanna in the far north. One of the major highlights for most visiting birders is the elegant Egyptian Plover, which is the sole member of the family Pluvianidae while other families such as Hyliotidae (which includes Violet-backed and Yellow-bellied Hyliotas) and Hyliidae (which includes Tit-Hylia and Green Hylia) are also highly sought-after. Other wonderful West African species such as Congo Serpent Eagle, Rosy, Black and Blue-moustached Bee-eaters, Standard-winged Nightjar, White-crested Tiger Heron, Long-tailed Hawk, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Oriole Warbler and Violet Turaco are just a few of the many stunning birds that reside within Ghana’s forests and woodlands. Ghana is also home to 180 of the Guinea-Congo Forests biome birds, including 12 out of the 15 Upper Guinea Forest endemics, 11 of which are of global conservation concern. These 180 species are West and Central African rainforest birds, some of them reaching as far east as the DRC/Uganda border, but most of them are found only with difficulty outside of West Africa, making Ghana a very convenient country to look for them.

What’s more Ghana is also home to some fascinating mammals like African Elephant, Pel’s Anomalure, the strange Potto, Patas Monkey, King Colobus and various forest duikers.

Rockjumper offers a wonderful variety of tours through Ghana which include our ever popular 15-day Comprehensive tour, our 22-day Mega tour and our 14-day Budget tour. All these tours offer wonderful opportunities of seeing White-necked Rockfowl plus many other fabulous West African birds and mammal.