"World’s Largest Woodpecker"
By Vern and Lori Geiger
March 2004 Guadalajara-Lakeside Volume 20, Number 7

     When we think “woodpecker,” many think of a bird banging its bill against a tree or a telephone pole. Or perhaps we recall the good ole “Woody Woodpecker Cartoon.” However, few think of the King of Woodpeckers: The Imperial Woodpecker.
     What makes this bird so special? For starters, at 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) in length, it is the largest woodpecker in the world. The male displays a brilliant red, pointed crest on an otherwise black head. The body plumage of this magnificent bird is a stunning black and white. The female, while lacking the brilliant red crest, is equally stunning in her black and white plumage, having a long, curling black crest. Not only are they beautiful, but their physical make up is just as impressive.
     They have a strong ivory colored bill, a very thick skull, and between the bill and the skull is a pad of spongy connective tissue that acts as a cushion. They also have “yoked” feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backward, with sharp, strong claws. Although the feet are adapted for clinging to a vertical surface, they are also used for grasping and perching. The tail is stiffened, with the shafts of the feathers terminating in hard spines, which the birds press against a vertical surface to help support, their weight. It also has another very special piece of equipment to help them, a long, elastic tongue that can easily get around curves. The tongue has a sticky glue-like substance on the end, to get the ants that are scurrying around in their tunnels.
     Unlike most other birds, woodpeckers like to eat ants. Once found throughout the huge Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, including Jalisco, their numbers have been steadily declining, with no confirmed sightings in recent years. So, do not rush out with your binoculars in hopes to catch a glimpse of one. The imperial woodpecker will be listed in the 2004 IUCN Red List of endangered species under the new classification of “Critically Endangered Possibly Extinct.” (New tag assigned to some Critically Endangered species by Birdlife International to indicate those species which are likely to be extinct, but for which there is a small chance that they may still exist.)
     A joint expedition by Bird Life International and a local Mexican conservation organization, Prosima, spent 16 days in an isolated part of Durango state, where there was an unconfirmed sighting in a pristine canyon in 1996. The site researchers explored was close to an area where two years before, researchers had found some evidence of the species; unfortunately, they were unable to confirm any sightings.
     On July 11, 2003 Birdlife International researchers ex-pressed their fear that the stunning Imperial Woodpecker, may now be extinct after the expedition to the last area reporting sightings of the bird, failed to find evidence of a resident population.
     The bird’s decline is due to the loss of habitat requiring an extensive area (26 km2 per pair) of continuous open and untouched pine forest with dead trees for feeding and nesting. Although large areas of pine forests still remain in the Sierra Madre Occidental, they are being logged, the dead trees along with their associated insects removed. Hunting is also thought to have contributed to the bird’s downfall.
     Is there still a glimmer of hope? Could this bird still exist? Let’s hope so. For, the world will be a poorer place without this magnificent bird—the Imperial Woodpecker.

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