Facts about Ivory-billed Woodpecker

1. 07

   Ivory-billed woodpeckers nested in large cavities excavated in dead trees, with pairs producing only one brood of 2-4 chicks annually, contributing to their slow population recovery potential.

   Ivory-billed WoodpeckerMay 14sharereproductionbehaviorhabitat
2. 06

   Logging operations destroyed approximately 99 percent of the southeastern old-growth bottomland forests that ivory-billed woodpeckers depended upon by the early 1900s.

   Ivory-billed WoodpeckerMay 14sharehabitatconservationhistory
3. 05

   Ivory-billed woodpeckers consumed large beetle larvae and wood-boring insects by excavating rectangular feeding holes distinctly different from the round holes made by other woodpecker species.

   Ivory-billed WoodpeckerMay 14sharebehaviordietanatomy
4. 04

   During the 1930s, ornithologist James Tanner conducted the last comprehensive study of ivory-billed woodpeckers, documenting a population of fewer than 25 individuals remaining in the Louisiana swamps.

   Ivory-billed WoodpeckerMay 14sharehistorypopulationconservation
5. 03

   Ivory-billed woodpeckers required approximately 6,000 acres of old-growth bottomland forest per breeding pair to sustain viable populations in the southeastern United States.

   Ivory-billed WoodpeckerMay 14sharehabitatecologyconservation
6. 02

   The ivory-billed woodpecker's distinctive double-knock call, produced by striking wood twice in rapid succession, could be heard up to half a mile away through dense forest.

   Ivory-billed WoodpeckerMay 14sharebehaviorsoundbiology
7. 01

   At approximately 20 inches long with a 30-inch wingspan, the ivory-billed woodpecker was North America's largest woodpecker species before its presumed extinction in the mid-20th century.

   Ivory-billed WoodpeckerMay 14sharebiologymeasurementextinct