Alternative names: Grey-necked Picathartes; Red-headed Picathartes / Rockfowl
- Picathartes oreas
Identification
33–38 cm (13-15 in)
Large, strange looking passerine with a large, sharp bill, long, fairly broad tail and strong legs. The bare-skinned head is quite remarkable with a powder blue fore-crown extending to above the nostril, crimson red hind-crown and nape and a triangular black bare-skinned lore, cheek and ear patch joining across the top between the blue fore-crown and red hind-crown. The malar stripe is also blue, bare-skinned extending below the black skin to a position in line with the eye.
Upperparts and tail are a dark bluish grey contrasting with the black primaries and primary coverts.
Underparts are a soft lemon yellow except for the washed grey neck, throat and upper breast.
The bill is black and the legs are a bluish grey.
The sexes are alike.
Distribution
Africa: found in south-eastern Nigeria, west and south Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea including Bioko, Gabon and south-western Republic of Congo.
Taxonomy
The family Picathartidae is a single genus with two species, the White-necked Picathartes Picathartes gymnocephalus and the Grey-necked Picathartes Picathartes oreas Both are confined to the West and Central African rainforest belt, the White-necked, west of the 'Dahomey Gap' in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana and the Grey-necked, east of the 'Dahomey Gap' from southern Nigeria through to PRC Congo.
There has been much controversy placing this genus systematically as its various placements in crows, starlings, flycatchers and the babblers should illustrate. Its now widely accepted family status is now usually positioned near the thrush-babbler grouping.
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Primary and Secondary Rainforest with rugged granite caves, cliffs and overhanging rocks in relatively isolated areas, up to 2100m altitude in Cameroon
Behaviour
Forages singly or in pairs and moves mostly in a bounding hop, even between low vines and searches diligently turning over leaves and rotting debris with its large bill. The birds seem to be fairly inactive during the middle of the day, often returning to the nesting/roosting caves and outcrops before returning to forage in the afternoon.
Breeding
Breeding is associated with the wet season where it nests singly or where suitable nesting sites are limited, colonially with both sexes building a strong cup like structure of roots and wet mud which solidifies and can remain intact for many years. The birds probably stay close to the breeding sites throughout the year and will often roost on old nests.
Diet
Primarily a invertebrate hunter of the forest floor, picathartes are also known to take small vertebrates, mainly frogs and lizards but occasionally other birds.
The birds are strong followers of army ant columns and clearly benefit from disturbed prey items.
Vocalisation
Generally quiet whilst out foraging in the forest. Gives a low, drawn out hiss repeated several times when returning to the nesting/roosing site and a single or double 'peep' when approaching the nest.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BF Member observations
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grey-necked Rockfowl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey-necked_Rockfowl
