Subject: The two big woodpeckers: Ivory-billed and Imperial



The two big woodpeckers: the Ivory-billed is the biggest in North America,
while Mexico?s Imperial is the largest in the world.

>From Fran Wood (male),

These two nearly-extinct woodpeckers have remarkably similar
histories over the past century. They were each the subject of a major
article in ?Birder?s World? magazine last year. In August the re-sighting
of the Ivory-billed was reviewed, and in December, the Imperial?s history
was covered. Both species have been considered extinct, but then the
Ivory-billed appeared in Arkansas in the past two years. And a couple of
months ago on our ?Tweeters? email John Spencer (via Robert Straub and Ian
Paulsen) reported that ?Ron and Serojan Makau?avid birdwatchers?both
professors at U.C. Riverside in the Biology Dept?.are sure, absolutely sure,
that they saw an Imperial Woodpecker near Divisadero on the north rim of
Copper Canyon in Mexico.? My wife Bunny and were just through the Copper
Canyon in December with a group of other interested birders, but no such
luck.

It?s interesting to see the similarities of these two big
woodpeckers. The Ivory-billed is the largest iin North America, and the
Imperial is the largest in the world (about 25% larger than the IB). The
ranges of the two in articles and bird books do not overlap, but their
problems do. Both have depended on old growth pine-oak forests for food and
nest trees. Extensive logging of their forest support in the southeast U.S.
and Mexico has devastated both populations. Both have also been subject to
being hunted for food, medicinal use, costume decorations, or ?to get a
closer look?.

Both public and private funding efforts are underway in both the
U.S. and Mexico to protect and expand the supportive environments for each
of these birds.

Unlike the Pileated, both the larger woodpeckers have white
over-wing areas, creating large white wing patches visible at rest over
folded wing tips.

As their numbers have decreased, approaching extinction, both
species have been spotted with markedly decreasing frequency. Does this
mean that only the very wary, easily spooked individuals remain? Is this
why photographic documentation of either is extremely difficult? And
perhaps this is why the very edgy individuals, or their genetically similar
offspring, are the only members of each species to survive.

It would be interesting to see how other birders perceive the
similar histories of these two similar giant woodpeckers.

And, finally, there is a lot of serious questioning about
whether the Ivory Billed has been seen. The January ?06 Auk article by
Jerome Jackson forwarded to tweeters by Jan Paulsen last month is a powerful
doubt from the author of ?In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker?
published by Smithsonian Books. This doubt was shared by the commentary
from a Cornell ornithologist on the NOVA program in late December, and a
long time colleague and extraordinary field ornithologist from Louisiana
State University. Both have reviewed in detail all of the audio and video
evidence and suggest we need to know more.

I hope that both the Ivory-billed and Imperial survive, but
there are lots of doubts.


Fran Wood (male)


412-36th Avenue, Seattle WA 98122


(206) 323-2296; <fbwood at u.washington.edu>




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