Do you believe in the Birdorable Ivory-billed Woodpecker?

Old photo of Birdorable Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Rare photo of a Birdorable Ivory-billed Woodpecker

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is one of the largest woodpecker species in the world. The bird is shiny blue-black with extensive white markings on its neck and on both the upper and lower trailing edges of its wings. It has a pure white bill and displays a prominent top crest, red in the male and black in the female.

That is what most people agree on, but what they don't agree on is if it's either extremely rare or extinct! There is no solid proof of recent sightings of the birds, but some people do claim they have seen it in the woods of the Southeastern United States.

Heavy logging activity and hunting by collectors decimated the population of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the late 1800s. It was generally considered extinct in the 1920s, when a pair turned up in Florida, only to be shot for specimens. By 1938, an estimated 20 individuals remained in the wild, some 6-8 of which were located in the old-growth forest called the Singer Tract in Louisiana.

By 1944 the last known Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a female, was gone from the cut-over tract. Reports of at least one male bird in Arkansas in 2004 and 2005 were reported in April 2005 by a team led by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. But no real evidence exist of the sighting, making many believe that the bird is extinct. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is the miracle bird of the century - or is it?

Cute Ivory-billed Woodpecker Gifts

Comments

Louise Warner on March 17, 2017 at 8:27 PM wrote:
well... um...maybe...

Leave a comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published
You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices, and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. By clicking submit below, you consent to allow Birdorable to store and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the content requested.

Introducing the Birdorable Australian Pelican: The Bird with the World's Largest Beak

Today’s new species breeds in Australia with a winter range that extends to nearby islands, including New Guinea, Fiji, and Indonesia: the Australian Pelican. The Australian Pelican has a white body plumage, mostly black wings, and an enormous beak. At up to nearly...

We're Celebrating Gulls This Week!

Welcome to Birdorable's first ever Gull Week! We're happy to celebrate gulls, a widespread family of social and intelligent seabirds. So far, we've got 21 species of gull in our cute cartoon style, out of the approximately 55 recognized species of gull in the world. To start things...

The Blue-fronted Parrot: Nature's Skilled Mimic

When we think of parrots, one thing that often comes to mind is their incredible ability to mimic human speech. Among the avian masters of mimicry, the Blue-fronted Parrot, also known as the Blue-fronted Amazon, stands out with its vibrant personality, striking appearance, and, most notably, its remarkable vocal talents.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday celebrated on May 5th in the United States and Mexico. Do you recognize all the birds in this picture? These birds can be found in Mexico. They are from top-left: Green Kingfisher, Green Jay, Black-crested Titmouse, Broad-tailed Hummingbird,