The Liberian Greenbul Phyllastrephus leucolepis is listed as Critically Endangered, but nothing is
known of it since it was first observed and collected in the Cavalla Forest in the early 1980s. We spent
one month (7 February to 8 March 2013) searching in the area where the type specimen was collected,
but we were unable to locate any Liberian Greenbuls. Extensive areas of suitable forest habitat remain
in the area, albeit disturbed by selective logging, plantations of exotic tree species, hunting and smallscale
agriculture and mining. Our failure to locate the species underscores the importance of efforts to
clarify its taxonomic status, which are now underway using genetic material from the type specimen
and blood collected by us from other Phyllastrephus greenbuls. One possibility is that the Liberian
Greenbul is not a valid species, but an aberrant juvenile plumage form of Icterine Greenbul P. icterinus.
Regardless of the outcome of this taxonomic question, our expedition found evidence that the Cavalla
Forest supports at least twenty bird and mammal species of global conservation concern, including
apparently healthy populations of large hornbills, White-breasted Guineafowl Agelastes meleagrides
and other Upper Guinea endemics. The area merits better protection on that basis alone. Its remaining
areas of closed-canopy high forest are threatened in particular by logging, and whether the area will
continue to support its current levels of biodiversity will depend on whether logging and other threats
can be controlled. The Liberian Greenbul is the subject of considerable local interest and pride, which
if handled sensitively, and if local livelihood needs are addressed, could help to provide a basis for
future conservation efforts.