Camera traps set to film mammals in the Democratic Republic of Congo caught a surprise: a grey-necked picathartes, a secretive bird with a bald, colorful head. Ecologist Jean Semeki's team found it in the Luki Biosphere Reserve, extending the species' known range by nearly 400 kilometers.
Grey-necked picathartes were only known from rainforests farther north, and the species is listed as near threatened. Finding one this far south shows the Congo rainforest shelters rare wildlife beyond what maps recorded, giving scientists and policymakers a concrete reason to protect the forest across country borders before habitat disappears.
✦ A hidden camera found a rare bird where no one thought it lived — and a forest gained a stronger case for protection.