News Release 2005 April 29

April 28, 2005 -- Little Rock, AR. The confirmed sightings of an Ivory billed Woodpecker on an Audubon designated Important Bird Area which encompasses the Cache-Lower White Rivers National Wildlife Refuges is like "finding the Holy Grail of Ornithology," said Ken Smith, Director of Audubon Arkansas.

"This is terrific news in Audubon's 100th anniversary year," he continued. "Audubon has a long history of trying to preserve this and other birds from extinction. In 1943, National Audubon campaigned to preserve a tract in Louisiana where the birds had been sighted, but unfortunately the last sighting there occurred in 1944."

With a distinctive white bill and a dramatic crest, the large woodpecker was thought to be globally extinct with the last documented sighting in Cuba in 1987. A report in 1999 in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area, Louisiana led to a concerted, high-tech search of the area in 2002, but no birds were found.

The Cache-Lower White Rivers Important Bird Area is as logical as any a place for the bird to be found in the United States. It is described on the Important Bird Area nomination form as "a large contiguous stand of bottomland hardwood forest that makes it one of the few prime locations in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley capable of supporting populations of all forest breeding birds within breeding range." It is also noted as the most important wintering area for Mallards in North America.

The Mississippi Alluvial Valley Migratory Bird Initiative designated this site as a 100,000-acre patch of bottomland hardwood forest to support the conservation of forest breeding birds. Additionally, the Ramsar Convention named it a "Wetland of International Importance" in 1989.

Important Bird Areas provide essential habitat for one or more species of bird, and meet criteria established by Audubon Arkansas' Important Bird Area Technical Committee, which includes many of the state's leading ornithologists.

"Finding the Ivory-billed Woodpecker on an Important Bird Area reinforces the urgency for conservation of such sites. While Important Bird Areas vary greatly in terms of land ownership, habitat type and bird usage, they all are critical for the survival of birds significant not only to Arkansas but, as we now know, to the world." said Dr. Daniel Scheiman, Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Arkansas.

Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.

National Release:
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FACT SHEET
Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Range: The Ivory-billed Woodpecker was once found in virgin forests throughout much of the southeastern United States, and up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers at least as far north as St. Louis. It was also known from mature forests through much of Cuba.

Habitat: U.S. birds preferred bottomland swamp forests. Primarily associated with extensive old-growth forests, the solitude of wilderness, and the availability of immense beetle larvae that were its principal food.

Characteristics essential in habitat include: (1) very extensive, continuous forest areas, (2) very large trees, (3) agents of tree mortality that result in a continuing supply of recently dead trees, and (4) an open forest through which such a large bird can fly.

Body size: 19 inches long with a 31-inch wingspan. Larger than the Pileated Woodpecker. Larger than a Crow.

Appearance: Large size, white bill, and largely white wing separate this bird from the Pileated Woodpecker. It is the third largest woodpecker on earth.

Lifespan: Unknown, though the similarly sized Pileated Woodpecker can live over 9 years.

Food: Prefers large beetle larvae found beneath the bark of recently dead trees.

What to listen for: A tooting call like the sound of a tin horn. Drumming is a double rap with an echo-like cadence.

What to look for: Extensive scaling of bark associated with foraging and nest sites.

Threats: Primary negative impact of humans is destroying or fragmenting their habitat. Other factors that contributed to their reduction include killing the birds, and possibly disrupting their normal behavior patterns.

Status: It is one of the rarest birds in the world. A Federally endangered species.

History: The Ivory-billed Woodpecker was first described in 1731. A century later John James Audubon painted the bird and wrote a detailed description in his "Birds of America." In the 1870s new technology started a lumber boom in the southern forests, and by the end of the decade the bird was reported as being not at all abundant. After years without a sighting, Arthur A. Allen, founder of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, rediscovered the bird in Florida in 1924. In 1935 he made the first and only audio and video recordings. Sponsored in part by National Audubon Society, James Tanner conducted a detailed study of the species' biology, ecology, and distribution in the late 1930s. He estimated there were only 25 birds left in the US, but found only 6 in the Singer Tract, Louisiana. National Audubon campaigned to preserve the land in 1943, but the last documented sighting occurred in April 1944. The species was thought to be globally extinct with the last documented sighting in Cuba in 1987. A credible report in 1999 in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area, Louisiana led to a concerted, high-tech search of the area in 2002, but no birds were found.

The Audubon Mission: To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.