‘Iconic’ bird was feared extinct for decades — until appearing on Louisiana trail cam

The last unchallenged sighting in the United States of the ivory-billed woodpecker, an “iconic species” with a distinct red crest, was in 1944.

In the decades that followed, some concluded that the bird — which was once abundant throughout the American south — had vanished. And in 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suggested formally declaring the species extinct.

But now researchers are saying not so fast.

Researchers affiliated with the National Aviary, a zoo in Pennsylvania, say they have spotted the elusive woodpecker in Louisiana, according to a peer-reviewed study published on May 18 in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

Their sightings were made in bottomland hardwood forests — swamps found along rivers and streams — in the Bayou State between 2012 and 2021, according to the study.

They installed motion-sensitive trail cameras, training them on fallen trees thought to be favored by the woodpeckers. While other cameras were aimed at the forest canopy, where the birds were believed to forage.

Researchers also implemented drones in their search in 2019, flying them about 400 feet above the forests to scan the treetops.

Using this multipronged technique, they captured numerous shots of the long-necked bird with shiny black and white plumage.

“You have very scarce birds that tend to be very high up in the canopy in dense forests and they’re very hard to document, and so this is a great achievement that we’ve been able to get this imagery,” Mark Michaels, one of the study’s coauthors, told McClatchy News.

The new images, which portray the birds mid-flight or perched in trees, were compared to photos taken of the bird in 1935, and its white saddle and slim frame were used to help identify it.

However, the photos, which are grainy as a result of being taken from long distances, have elicited skepticism from some scientists and birdwatchers.

In response, Steve Latta, one of the study’s coauthors, told McClatchy News, “We’re very confident in our research and in the data and our interpretation of the data that we’ve gathered over many years.”

The researchers added that the population of ivory-billed woodpeckers will remain small unless its habitat is expanded.

“Their numbers cannot be expected to improve unless many more large and continuous bottomland hardwood forests are actively or passively managed to exhibit old growth characteristics,” researchers said.

Old growth forests are characterized by old trees, dead wood and multiple canopy layers, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Environmental factors such as wildfires and severe weather have threatened many of the country’s old growth forests.

If the ivory-billed woodpecker is to thrive, the swampy, old growth forests that it favors have to be large enough to withstand ecological changes brought on by fires, hurricanes and floods, researchers said.

“The ivory-billed woodpecker was symbolic of the endangered species in America for a very long time and a lot of people, myself included in the late 60s and early 70s, were inspired by the ivorybill to become more aware,” Michaels said. “And I think that one of the benefits of our research will be to awaken that kind of interest and concern.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 12:44 PM with the headline "‘Iconic’ bird was feared extinct for decades — until appearing on Louisiana trail cam."