The ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is a type of woodpecker found in the southern United States and Cuba. The destruction of their homes and hunting have greatly reduced their numbers. The last widely accepted sighting in the United States was in 1944, and the last widely accepted sighting in Cuba was in 1987.
The ivory-billed woodpecker was the largest woodpecker in the United States and among the largest in the world. Naturalist John James Audubon called it the "Great chieftain of the woodpecker tribe." Adult birds have an ivory-colored beak, which is why they are named the ivory-billed woodpecker. Their feathers are black and white, and males have a red head crest.
These birds lived in bottomland hardwood forests, which are forests near rivers with hard trees, and in temperate coniferous forests, which are forests with cone-bearing trees. They eat mainly large beetle larvae, especially those from wood-boring beetles called Cerambycidae, and also eat plant materials like southern magnolia, pecans, acorns, hickory nuts, wild grapes, and persimmons. To find beetle larvae, the birds use their beaks to pry open the bark of dead trees, revealing tunnels where the larvae live. In their range, the ivory-billed woodpecker has no real competitors for hunting these larvae.
In the 21st century, some reports and evidence suggest the bird may still live in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida. However, many experts question the accuracy of these reports and believe the bird is likely extinct. Efforts to protect and restore their habitat have been started in areas where the bird might still live.
In September 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that the bird be declared extinct. After receiving public feedback, the agency announced it would continue reviewing information before making a final decision. As of February 2026, the bird’s status has not been officially changed.
Taxonomy
The ivory-billed woodpecker was first described as Picus maximus rostra albo (Latin for "the largest white-bill woodpecker") in the 1731 publication Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas by English naturalist Mark Catesby. Later, in the 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus included the bird, giving it the binomial name Picus principalis. In 1840, English zoologist George Robert Gray introduced the genus Campephilus, with the ivory-billed woodpecker as the type species.
Ornithologists recognize two subspecies of this bird:
– American ivory-billed woodpecker (C. p. principalis), native to the southeastern United States
– Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker (C. p. bairdii), native to Cuba, including Isla de la Juventud
The two subspecies look similar, but the Cuban bird is slightly smaller than the American one. In 1874, ornithologists T. M. Brewer and Robert Ridgway identified two feather traits to distinguish them. They noted that the Cuban bird had white stripes on its back extending to the bill, while the American bird did not. Additionally, the adult Cuban male had longer red crest feathers compared to its black crest feathers, whereas the American bird had equal-length red and black crest feathers.
Some scientists debate whether the Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker should be classified as a separate species. A 2006 study compared DNA from the American and Cuban ivory-billed woodpeckers and the imperial woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis) of Mexico, a larger but similar bird. The DNA analysis showed that all three types of woodpeckers are genetically distinct. It also suggested that the American, Cuban, and imperial woodpeckers form a North American group within Campephilus, diverging into separate species during the Mid-Pleistocene. The study did not define a direct lineage connecting the three birds but indicated the Cuban woodpecker is more closely related to the imperial woodpecker. The American Ornithologists' Union Committee on Classification and Nomenclature has not yet classified the American and Cuban birds as separate species, stating more research is needed before making such a change.
The official name of the species is "ivory-billed woodpecker," as designated by the International Ornithologists' Union. Older common names for the bird included "Log Cock," "Log God," "Lord God Bird," "Indian Hen," "Kent," "Kate," "Poule de Bois" (Wood Hen in Cajun French), and "Tit-ka" (Wood Cock in Seminole). In his 1942 novella The Bear, author William Faulkner referred to the bird as the "big woodpecker, called Lord-to-God by negroes," linking it to the ancient southern forests of the Mississippi Delta. Some modern writers call the species the "Holy Grail bird" or "Grail Bird" due to its extreme rarity and difficulty in locating it.
Description
The ivory-billed woodpecker is one of the largest woodpeckers in the world. It is about 51 centimeters (20 inches) long and has a wingspan of 76 centimeters (30 inches). It is the largest woodpecker in its area. The closely related imperial woodpecker (C. imperialis) of western Mexico is the largest woodpecker in the world. The ivory-billed woodpecker is 48 to 53 centimeters (19 to 21 inches) long and weighs about 450 to 570 grams (0.99 to 1.26 pounds). Its wingspan is usually 76 centimeters (30 inches). Standard measurements include a wing chord length of 23.5 to 26.5 centimeters (9.3 to 10.4 inches), a tail length of 14 to 17 centimeters (5.5 to 6.7 inches), a bill length of 5.8 to 7.3 centimeters (2.3 to 2.9 inches), and a tarsus length of 4 to 4.6 centimeters (1.6 to 1.8 inches). John James Audubon called it the "Great chieftain of the woodpecker tribe."
The ivory-billed woodpecker has shiny black feathers with a blue or purple shine. White lines run from the cheeks down the neck and meet on the back. The ends of the inner primary feathers and the entire outer secondary feathers are white. This creates large white areas on the back edge of both the upper and lower wings. The lower wings also have white along the front edge, forming a black line in the middle of the lower wing that becomes blacker near the wingtip. Some birds have more white on their primary feathers. The bird has a noticeable crest, though it is ragged in young birds. The species shows some differences between males and females: the crest is black at the front, changing to red on the sides and back in males, but is solid black in females and young males. When perched with wings folded, both sexes show a large triangular white patch on the lower back. Like all woodpeckers, the ivory-billed woodpecker has a strong, straight bill and a long, mobile, hard-tipped, barbed tongue. The bill is ivory-colored in adults and chalky white in young birds. Among North American woodpeckers, the ivory-billed woodpecker is unique because its bill tip is flattened sideways, resembling a chisel. Its flight is strong and direct, and it moves like a duck.
These features help distinguish ivory-billed woodpeckers from the smaller and darker-billed pileated woodpecker. The pileated woodpecker is usually brownish-black, smoky, or slaty black. It has a white neck stripe but a black back. Pileated woodpeckers also have a red crest and a white chin. Typically, pileated woodpeckers lack white on the back edges of their wings and show only a small white patch near the wing edges when perched. However, some pileated woodpeckers have been reported with white on the back edges of their wings, forming a white triangular patch on the lower back when perched.
The drumming sound of the ivory-billed woodpecker is a single or double rap. Four distinct calls are reported, and two were recorded in 1935. The most common call, described as "kent" or "hant," sounds like a toy trumpet and is often repeated in a series. When the bird is disturbed, the pitch of the "kent" call rises, and the note is repeated more often, sometimes doubled. A conversational call is used between birds at the nest and sounds like "kent-kent-kent."
Habitat and diet
People did not try to estimate the range of the ivory-billed woodpecker until after its habitat was already damaged by cutting down forests and hunting. The first map showing where the bird lived was made by Edwin M. Hasbrouck in 1891. A second map was made by James Tanner in 1942. Both scientists used old records they believed were reliable, often based on bird specimens with clear notes about where they were found. Their maps showed similar areas where the bird lived before habitat loss and hunting reduced its range. Before these problems, the ivory-billed woodpecker lived from eastern Texas to North Carolina and from southern Illinois to Florida and Cuba, usually from the coast inland to about 30 meters (98 feet) above sea level.
However, some differences exist between Hasbrouck’s and Tanner’s maps. Hasbrouck included areas near Kansas City and Franklin County, Indiana, based on reports from Wells Woodbridge Cooke and E. T. Cox. Tanner did not include these areas, believing the reports might be incorrect or accidental. Tanner’s map showed the bird living farther up the Arkansas and Canadian Rivers, based on sightings reported by S. W. Woodhouse and Edwin James. Hasbrouck did not include these reports, possibly because he did not know about them.
Tanner’s map is usually considered the best estimate of the bird’s original range. However, some reports exist outside both maps that were not included or were later found. For example, the bird was reported in Texas near San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers around 1900. In 1780, William Fleming shot an ivory-billed woodpecker in Kentucky. Bird remains found in ancient refuse heaps in Ohio and West Virginia suggest the bird was hunted there. A report also exists of a bird shot and eaten in West Virginia around 1900. Hasbrouck placed the northern range limit along the Atlantic Coast near Fort Macon, North Carolina, but Tanner rejected this, instead using a record of a bird shot 12 miles (19 km) north of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Other reports show the bird lived farther north. Thomas Jefferson wrote about the bird in Virginia, calling it the "White bill woodpecker." Audubon noted the bird could be found as far north as Maryland. In the 1700s, Pehr Kalm reported the bird in New Jersey. Wilson shot an ivory-billed woodpecker west of Winchester, Virginia. Bones from Georgia’s Etowah Mounds are believed to be from ivory-billed woodpeckers hunted there. The bird is not spread evenly across its range but is concentrated in areas with good habitat and food.
Most knowledge about the bird’s habits comes from James Tanner’s study of birds in the Tensas River area in the 1930s. It is unclear how much his findings apply to the entire species. The bird lives in swamps, old-growth forests, and Cuban pine forests, but it is not certain if these are all suitable habitats. In the Tensas River region, Tanner estimated one pair of birds per 44 km (17 mi). In other areas, he estimated one pair per 25 km (10 mi) and one pair per 16 km (6 mi). Tanner believed the bird needs large areas to find enough food, so they are expected to be rare even in healthy populations.
After the Civil War, logging destroyed millions of acres in the South, leaving only small, scattered areas of suitable habitat. It was widely believed that habitat loss and the bird’s need for large areas caused its decline. However, Noel Snyder argued that hunting, not habitat loss, was the main cause. He said Tanner’s estimates were based on a population already in decline and that the bird’s home range was smaller than believed.
The ivory-billed woodpecker mainly eats beetle larvae, with about half of its stomach contents being large beetles from the Cerambycidae family. It also eats nuts, seeds, and fruits like pecans, acorns, hickory nuts, poison ivy seeds, and magnolia fruit. The bird uses its large beak to hammer and peel bark from dead trees to find grubs. No other bird in its range can do this, so it has no real competitors for this food.
Ivory-billed woodpeckers are active during the day and sleep in individual roost holes, often reused. They leave their roosts at dawn, feed in the morning, rest during the day, and feed again in the late afternoon before returning to their roosts at dusk.
Breeding biology and life cycle
The ivory-billed woodpecker is believed to mate for life. Pairs often travel together. These birds breed every year from January to May. Both parents work together to dig a hole in a tree about 15–70 feet (4.6–21.3 m) above the ground for their nest. Limited data shows they prefer living or partially dead trees, avoiding completely rotten ones. Nest holes are usually found in or just below broken-off stumps in living trees, where the wood is easier to dig. The overhanging stump helps protect the nest from rain. It also keeps the opening in shadow, which helps protect the nest from predators. No clear records show that ivory-bills reuse their nests in later years. Like most woodpeckers, they likely dig a new nest each year. Nest openings are usually oval or rectangular, measuring about 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) tall by 10 cm (3.9 in) wide. The typical nest depth is about 50 cm (20 in), though nests can be as shallow as 36 cm (14 in) or as deep as 150 cm (59 in).
Ivory-billed woodpeckers usually lay eggs in April or May, with some eggs laid as early as mid-February. A second group of eggs is only seen if the first one fails. Up to three glossy, white eggs are laid, averaging 3.5 cm × 2.5 cm (1.38 in × 0.98 in) in size. Some nests have had up to six eggs, and some broods have had up to four young. Tanner estimated the time to hatch the eggs to be about 20 days, similar to the Magellanic Woodpecker. However, this time has not been confirmed for the ivory-bill. Both parents help keep the eggs warm. The male is often seen keeping the eggs warm at night. During the day, the male and female take turns every two hours, with one parent searching for food and the other keeping the eggs warm. After the young hatch, both parents search for food to feed them. The young learn to fly about 7 to 8 weeks after hatching. The parents continue to feed them for another two months. The family separates in late fall or early winter.
Ivory-billed woodpeckers do not migrate. Historically, pairs were often seen nesting within a few hundred meters of previous nests, year after year. Although these birds stay within a regular area a few kilometers from their nest or roost, they are not territorial. There are no known records of ivory-bills defending their area from other ivory-bills when they meet. These woodpeckers sometimes show social behavior, with groups of four or five birds feeding together on a single tree. As many as eleven birds have been seen feeding in the same place. They have also been seen feeding on the same tree as the pileated woodpecker, the only other large woodpecker in their range, without fighting. Although they do not migrate, ivory-billed woodpeckers are sometimes called nomadic. They move occasionally to areas where disasters like fires or floods have created large amounts of dead wood, which supports many beetle larvae, a preferred food source.
The maximum lifespan of an ivory-billed woodpecker is unknown. However, since other Campephilus woodpeckers usually live no longer than 15 years, this number is sometimes used as an estimate for the ivory-bill. No animals other than humans are known to prey on this woodpecker. However, they have been seen reacting to Cooper's hawks and red-shouldered hawks. It is also possible that predators of nestlings and eggs, such as squirrels, raccoons, and rat snakes, or predators of young birds, such as owls and hawks, contributed to the species' decline.
Status
The ivory-billed woodpecker is listed as "presumed extinct" by NatureServe. The IUCN lists the species as critically endangered and describes it as possibly extinct. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service currently lists the species as endangered.
The ivory-billed woodpecker was first listed as an endangered species by USFWS on March 11, 1967. A 2019 five-year review by the Service recommended that the ivory-billed woodpecker be removed from the Endangered Species List due to extinction, and in September 2021, the USFWS proposed that the species be delisted and declared extinct. After a comment period and a public hearing, an FWS spokesperson acknowledged substantial disagreement among experts regarding the status of the species, and the agency provided additional time for public comment. The National Audubon Society was among those asking the Service to reconsider, saying that while it takes no position on the validity of recent sightings, it believes a precautionary approach will help build public trust, allow time to further consider evidence, and not discourage continued surveys for the species. Other ornithology experts and amateur birdwatchers continued to insist that the species still exists. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries was among those supporting a declaration of extinction, citing a lack of conclusive evidence and a concern for the allocation of scarce resources. In October 2023, USFWS said in a news release that it would continue to analyze and review information before making any final decision.
The ivory-billed woodpecker population was devastated in the late 19th century due to heavy logging activity, compounded by bird collectors hunting them. In 1907, one notable sighting occurred when President Theodore Roosevelt wrote of seeing three birds during a bear hunting trip in northeast Louisiana swampland. The species was considered extremely rare, and some ornithologists believed it was extinct by the 1920s. In 1924, Arthur Augustus Allen found a nesting pair in Florida, which local taxidermists shot for specimens. In 1932, a Louisiana state representative, Mason Spencer of Tallulah, killed an ivory-billed woodpecker along the Tensas River and took the specimen to his state wildlife office in Baton Rouge. Consequently, Arthur Allen, along with fellow Cornell Ornithology professor Peter Paul Kellogg, Ph.D. student James Tanner, and avian artist George Miksch Sutton, organized an expedition to that part of Louisiana as part of a broader effort to record images and sounds of endangered birds across the United States. The team located a population of woodpeckers in Madison Parish in northeastern Louisiana, in a section of the old-growth forest called the Singer tract, owned by the Singer Sewing Company, where logging rights were held by the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company. The team made the only universally accepted audio and motion picture recordings of the ivory-billed woodpecker. The National Audubon Society attempted to buy the logging rights to the tract so the habitat and birds could be preserved, but the company rejected their offer. Tanner spent 1937–1939 studying the ivory-billed woodpeckers on the Singer tract and traveling across the southern United States searching for other populations as part of his thesis work. At that time, he estimated there were 22–24 birds remaining, of which 6–8 were on the Singer tract. The last universally accepted sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker in the United States was made on the Singer tract by Audubon Society artist Don Eckelberry in April 1944, when logging of the tract was nearly complete.
Since 1944, regular reports have been made of ivory-billed woodpeckers being seen or heard across the southeastern United States, particularly in Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and South Carolina. In many instances, sightings were certainly misidentified pileated woodpeckers or red-headed woodpeckers. Similarly, in many cases, reports of hearing the kent call of the ivory-billed woodpecker were misidentifications of a similar call sometimes made by blue jays. It is also possible to mistake wing collisions in flying duck flocks for the characteristic double knock. However, some sightings, including some with purported photographic or audio evidence, have resulted in scientific publications, news coverage, and in some cases conservation efforts, though no sighting since 1944 has been universally accepted.
In 1950, the Audubon Society established a wildlife sanctuary along the Chipola River after a group led by University of Florida graduate student Whitney Eastman reported a pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers with a roost hole. The sanctuary was terminated in 1952 when the woodpeckers could not be located.
In 1967, ornithologist John Dennis, who had rediscovered the Cuban species in 1948, reported sightings of ivory-billed woodpeckers along the Neches River in Texas during an exploration sponsored by the USFWS. Dennis produced audio recordings of possible kent calls that matched well with the calls of the ivory-billed woodpecker, although they also resembled calls made by blue jays. At least 20 people reported sightings of one or more ivory-billed woodpeckers in the same area in the late 1960s, and several photographs, ostensibly showing an ivory-billed woodpecker in a roost, were produced by Neil Wright. Copies of two of his photographs were given to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. These sightings formed part of the basis for the creation of the Big Thicket National Preserve.
H. N. Agey and G. M. Heinzmann reported observing one or two ivory-billed woodpeckers in Highlands County, Florida, on 11 occasions between 1967 and 1969. During a storm, a tree where the birds had been reported roosting was damaged. This allowed Agey and Heinzmann to collect a feather from the roost, which A. Wetmore subsequently identified as an inner secondary feather of an ivory-billed woodpecker. The feather is stored at the Florida Museum of Natural History and is described as "fresh, not worn." However, since it could not be conclusively dated, it has not been universally accepted as proof that ivory-billed woodpeckers persisted to the date the feather was collected.
At the 1971 annual meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, Louisiana State University museum director George Lowery presented two photographs showing what appeared to be a male ivory-billed woodpecker. The photographs were taken by outdoorsman Fielding Lewis in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana, with an Instamatic camera. Although the photographs had the correct field markings for an ivory-billed woodpecker, their quality was not sufficient for other ornithologists to be confident that they did not depict a mounted specimen, and they were greeted with general skepticism.
In 1999, a forestry student from Louisiana State University reported an
Relationship with humans
The body parts of ivory-billed woodpeckers, especially their bills, were used in trade, religious ceremonies, and as decorations by Native American groups from the western Great Lakes and Great Plains regions. For example, bills painted red were found in burial sites at Ton won Tonga, a village of the Omaha people. These bills might have been used in special pipes called "Wawaⁿ Pipes." The Iowa people, another group that spoke Siouan languages, often included ivory-billed woodpecker bills and scalps in ceremonial pipes. The Sauk and Meskwaki people used ivory-billed woodpecker body parts in amulets, headbands, and sacred bundles. In many cases, Native Americans obtained these bills through trade. For instance, Ton won Tonga was about 300 miles (480 kilometers) away from the farthest known range of the ivory-billed woodpecker, yet bills were found in the graves of wealthy adult men from this village. Another bill was discovered in a grave in Johnstown, Colorado. These bills were valuable; Catesby recorded a trade where bills were exchanged outside the bird's range for two or three deerskins. European settlers in the United States also used ivory-billed woodpecker remains for decoration, often attaching dried heads to their shot pouches or using them as watch fobs.
Evidence of ivory-billed woodpeckers in kitchen middens, which are areas where people discarded food remains, suggests that some Native American groups hunted and ate the birds. Such remains were found in Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, and Georgia. Hunting ivory-billed woodpeckers for food continued into the early 20th century in the Southeastern United States, with reports of the practice lasting until at least the 1950s. In some cases, trappers and fishermen used the birds' flesh as bait. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, hunting for bird collections was widespread, with 413 specimens stored in museum and university collections as of 2007. The Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology holds the largest collection, with more than 60 ivory-billed woodpecker skins.
The ivory-billed woodpecker has been a focus for birdwatchers. It was called Audubon's favorite bird. Roger Tory Peterson described his unsuccessful search for the birds along the Congaree River in the 1930s as his "most exciting bird experience." After reports of sightings in eastern Arkansas, tourist spending in and around Brinkley, Arkansas, increased by 30%. Brinkley hosted "The Call of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Celebration" in February 2006, which included exhibits, birding tours, educational presentations, and a vendor market. By the 21st century, the ivory-billed woodpecker had become nearly mythical among birdwatchers, with many considering it a prestigious addition to their life lists.
The rarity and difficulty of finding the ivory-billed woodpecker have led to rewards for proof of its presence. In 2008, Cornell University offered $50,000 to anyone who could lead scientists to an active roost or nest of the bird, though the offer is no longer active. In 2020, the Louisiana Wilds project offered $12,000 for the location of an active roost or nest.
The ivory-billed woodpecker has inspired artistic works. Joseph Bartholomew Kidd created a painting based on Audubon's drawings for a traveling exhibition in the United Kingdom and United States, though the exhibition never occurred. The painting is now displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sufjan Stevens wrote a song titled "The Lord God Bird" about the ivory-billed woodpecker after speaking with residents of Brinkley, Arkansas. The song was broadcast on National Public Radio following sightings in the area. The 2012 film Red Flag, directed by Alex Karpovsky, features a segment about his 2008 documentary Woodpecker on the ivory-billed woodpecker. Arkansas has issued license plates with an image of the bird.
Eudora Welty honored the bird in a 1944 essay titled "Some Notes on River Country."