Creature Feature #586: Picathartes

Never heard of a Picathartes? Well, don't worry, neither had I until I listened to "A Corner of White" by Jaclyn Moriarty, where she mentioned them in passing. I looked it up (to see if it was real) and voila, found this weird looking bird that I just had to add to my list.

The Picathartes, also known as the bald crow or rockfowl, is neither crow, nor fowl, but a Family in the Order of the Passerines, consisting of two species. This is the white-necked, please colour him accordingly. Both species are found in western Africa, but with limited range and Vulnerable to extinction. His diet generally consists of invertebrates, occasionally frogs and reptiles, with crabs being plucked from shallow water.  Breeding occurs during the wet season, and pairs are thought to be monogamous, sometimes nesting together in small colonies. Nests are made from clay and mud, attached to a cave roof or overhang.