Ivory Billed Woodpecker

Update: This animal has been declared extinct as of September 29, 2021 by the Fish and Wildlife service.

The Ivory-billed woodpecker was the third largest woodpecker in the world, and the largest north of Mexico. It was a huge black and white woodpecker that lived in forests in the south-east United States and Cuba. The woodpeckers in Cuba have a smaller bill and longer white stripes, so some consider it a different species. Ivory-billed woodpeckers had a gigantic white bill, which, despite its name, was made of bone. They used this bill to pull bark off dead trees to eat beetle larvae. When it still lived in its habitat, the Ivory-billed woodpecker’s beak was used to create decorations by Native Americans.

Because of deforestation, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker’s population decreased to a great extent in the 1800s; so much that by the 20th century there was only a very small population left. The last accepted photo of an Ivory-billed woodpecker was taken in 1938 in the Singer tract of Louisiana. They were thought to have gone extinct around 1944. The Cuban Ivory-billed woodpecker also went extinct because of deforestation in 1986. There have been claimed sightings ever since, but most of these could not be validated. With the amount of sightings reported, it is surprising that none have been confirmed, and this points towards this woodpecker being gone forever. It is also likely that some of the sightings were of the pileated woodpecker, another, smaller woodpecker that lives in the same area. There also have been recordings of this woodpecker’s distinctive double knock peck, but these might also be other noises. It is uncertain if this woodpecker still lives, but after numerous sightings there have been some efforts to find this bird and protect it. We hope the Ivory-billed woodpecker is still out there, but with the evidence we have now, we can’t be sure.