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The
Ivory-billed Woodpecker, once thought to be
extinct, has been confirmed and documented
in
the Cache River and White
River forests of eastern Arkansas.
Ivory-billed Woodpeckers once inhabited the
bottomland hardwoods and pine
forests of southeastern United States and
Cuba. This large black and white woodpecker
disappeared as its habitat has increasingly
declined.
It has been more than
60
years since the last confirmed sighting of
this bird in the United States. Evidence was
collected during a search in the Cache River
and White River national wildlife refuges by
biologists and birding experts in
collaboration with the
Big Woods Conservation Partnership.
Before this discovery, the
last confirmed sighting of an Ivory-billed
Woodpecker, in the United States was during
the 1940s. Since then, there have been
unconfirmed reports that the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker has been seen or heard in the
United States.
The Ivory-billed
Woodpecker is a large black-and-white
woodpecker. Males have a red crest; females
have a black head and crest. White wing
patches and a stripe down the side of its
neck continuing down its back distinguish it
from the Pileated Woodpecker, the only
woodpecker that resembles the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker.
 Ivory-bills have a large,
chisel-tipped bill ivory in color, in
contrast with the dark bill of the Pileated.
It does not undulate like other woodpeckers
when flying, but rather flies like a duck.
Its drum is a single or double rap, and its
alarm call, a "kent" or "hant" sounds like a
toy trumpet repeated in a series or as a
double note. |