Habitat
Lowland and montane primary and secondary forest, forest clearings, gallery forest mainly in rocky, hilly terrain, usually in the proximity of flowing streams and rivers, where wet mud may be gathered for nest construction. From sea-level - 800 m.
Forest belt in southern and eastern Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Population
Estimated population is 2,500 - 9,999 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Habitat destruction through clearance for agriculture, mining, egg collection, trade, are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Mainly invertebrates, including beetles, termites, ants and grasshoppers, as well as earthworms, spiders. Also vertebrates such as frogs and lizards.
Voice
Usually silent. A breathy 'shhhissss' and other soft 'tok' calls.
White-necked Rockfowl (Picathartes gymnocephalus) [XC719391]
by Paul Lenrum\u00e9 from Nyamibe Forest (Bonkro), Ghana (call)
White-necked Rockfowl (Picathartes gymnocephalus) [XC719390]
by from Nyamibe Forest (Bonkro), Ghana (call)
Nest
Cup-shaped composed of mud in which dried leaves, fibres and twigs are embedded, on rock-faces, cliffs, cave roofs. In colonies of up to 40 pairs, but more usually only 2 - 5, and in some cases alone.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet