Woodpeckers of the World: Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Friday 13 November 2015

Ivory-billed Woodpecker

This is as close as I have ever been to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis. Female (left) and male (right) specimens in the Vienna Museum of National History, Austria. The debate over whether this species still exists or not goes on, although it does not rage as much as it did in the years following reports of sightings in the USA in 2005 and 2005. The IUCN class this bird as Critically Endangered. It is, sadly, probably but not officially extinct.

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Background

Woodpeckers, the Picidae, are Piciformes, an order that includes some of the oldest avian lineages. The Piciformes probably originated about 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period and became distinct from their closest relatives some 50 million years ago. Depending upon which taxonomy is followed, and the fact that the status of some species is unclear, around 240-260 woodpecker species probably exist globally. The Picidae includes three subfamilies: Jynginae (wrynecks), Picumninae (piculets) and the Picinae, the “true woodpeckers”. In terms of size, behaviour, distribution and the habitats they use, the Picinae are a fairly diverse group of birds with six distinct tribes. They are widespread and found from sea-level to high-altitudes but absent from the Arctic, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and some other islands. Worldwide woodpeckers are usually, but not exclusively, associated with trees.