maybe 1, not more than a few
maybe 1, not more than a few
Endangered
By 1891, U.S. populations were confined to forests near the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Between 1934 and 1935, just under 100 observations were made in South Carolina's Santee River basin. An estimate in 1939 put the total population at less than 24, and since the late 1940's, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been little more than a rumor. After the mid 1990's, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker was presumed extinct.
Habitat destruction drove the Ivory-billed Woodpecker toward and perhaps into extinction. In the southeastern U.S. almost every acre of mature bottomland forest was cleared for agricultural development and timber. In fact, in 1948 when the Singer Tract in Louisiana was cleared for cultivating soybeans, the next-to-the-last known population of Ivory-bills in the U.S. probably went with it. The Cuban population suffers from the same threats. There, habitat was cleared for lumber, sugar plantations, and charcoal-burning. The remaining Cuban forest tracts that were known to support Ivory-bills are probably too degraded to maintain a population. This species also experienced dire persecution. For example, in Cuba, it was hung outside homes to prevent witchcraft. In the United States, it was also shot for its beauty, its feathers for human adornment, scientific study, food, and a souvenir trade in woodpecker heads and beaks.
The first step to helping this bird is to determine if any more exist. In 1967, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as Endangered, but until 2005, the bird was presumed extinct, and no conservation was in action. The announced rediscovery in Arkansas' Big Woods launched a massive search effort that included dozens of trained field observers, remote sensors, and remote recorders. Building on the already existing Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, the "Corridor of Hope" is now planned to protect the Big Woods, a forest tract measuring roughly 20 by 120 miles. The U.S. Department of the Interior released a Draft Recovery Plan in August of 2007. The effort to relocate and confirm the sightings of the Ivory-bill were intense in 2006/2007 and extended to locations in northern Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. Sadly, no verifiable, unequivocal evidence has been produced. If the Ivory-billed Woodpecker does persist, it will need what Americans took from it: a place to live.
If you are in deep forest of the southeastern United States, keep your eyes open for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. Be sure to carry a camera because documentation of all sightings will be required. Be aware that Pileated Woodpeckers look a lot like Ivory-bills and are common. You can learn more about what you can do through the
Cornell Lab for Ornithology , which leads part of the search.
If you are in the White and Cache River portions of Arkansas, please follow all guidelines designed to protect the Ivory-bill and other treasures of the region. Report any encounters to the Cornell web site above.
Support the preservation and rehabilitation of North America's bottomland forests. In 2003, after 34 years of effort by individuals and conservation groups, the
Congaree National Park was established southeast of Columbia, South Carolina. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is assumed to have inhabited the old growth forest in this park, also designated as an Important Bird Area, and in 2006 wildlife biologists enlisted the public to look and listen for the Ivory-bill.
Find out about
actions you can take to help birds,including taking part in Audubon programs and activities.
Read about the differences between the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the very common Pileated Woodpecker at
www.audubon.org/bird/ivory/differences.
Learn more about this species and other birds through
these resources.
BirdLife International (2007) Species factsheet:
Campephilus principalis. Accessed 15 August 2007.
Jackson, J. A. (2002). Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis).
The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Accessed 15 August 2007.