The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis)

by James K. Sayre

It is great news that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), a magnificent bird long presumed extinct, has recently been spotted in a swamp in southeastern Arkansas. In the last couple of decades, bird watchers and others have made reports of possibly sighting the Ivory-bill in swamps in Louisiana and also in some remote mountains of Cuba. Lets hope that birdwatchers can show some adult restraint and refrain from a massive invasion of the Arkansas nature preserve in an attempt to flush out and spot the Ivory-bill and thus add it to their "life list." Let's respect this shy and wary bird's need for privacy and content ourselves with reading about its continued existence in newspapers and on the Internet.

Some traditional folk names for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker include: Caip, Carpintero Real, Grand Pique-bois, Indian Hen, Ivory-bill, Kate, Kent, King of the Woodpeckers, King Woodchuck, Logcock, Log-god, Poule de Bois, Southern Giant Woodpecker, White-billed Woodpecker, Woodchuck and Woodcock.

Incidentally, the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryacopus pileatus), which is the closest relative of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, can be seen in forested areas of California, the Pacific Northwest and eastern United States. The Pileated Woodpecker is slightly smaller than the Ivory-bill, with black-and-white coloring and also sports a brilliant red crest. All Pileateds have the red crest: males, females and juveniles. Its booming calls and drummings, which are usually heard in the spring, are unmistakable and are often the first sign that the bird is nearby. The Pileated is the largest woodpecker that most of us will ever see. Carpenter ants and wood-boring beetles are its main foods, which it obtains by hammering holes into dead trees. It also dines on wild fruits, in season. In severe climates, it fashions a large deep hole in a dead tree, which it then uses as its winter sleeping quarters.

6 May 2005.

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