Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T03:05:19.069Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Status of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis in Cuba: almost certainly extinct

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Martjan Lammertink  and
Alberto R. Estrada
Martjan Lammertink
Affiliation:
Instituut voor Systematiek en Populatiebiologie, Universiteit van Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94766, 1090 GT Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alberto R. Estrada
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales, Apartado 5252, La Habana 5, 10500 Cuba
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis has suffered from destruction of its habitat over the whole of its range, being last recorded in eastern Cuba (Ojito de Agua) in 1987. The only chance for the species was that the last-known birds had moved to adjacent areas, or that other populations existed in other mountainranges. Between February and May 1993 an extensive search for the species and for suitable habitat was carried out in mountain areas of eastern Cuba. In the surroundings of Ojito de Agua no suitable large old-growth forests remain, and evidence for the absence of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers from the area is discussed. In the region surveyed, only around Pico la Bayamesa in the Sierra Maestra does an almost untouched forest still stand, but this is probably outside the species's original range. Ojito de Agua and Pico la Bayamesa should nevertheless be fully protected. The last known population of Ivory-billed Woodpecker appears to have become extinct in 1989 or 1990. Scaling of bark from dead pines, formerly considered a sure sign of the species's presence, may be caused by weather damage.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 53 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1995

References

Collar, N. J., Gonzaga, L. P., Krabbe, N., Madroño Nieto, A., Naranjo, L. G., Parker, T. A. and Wege, D. C. (1992) Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP Red Data Book. Cambridge, U.K.: International Council for Bird Preservation.Google Scholar
Dennis, J. V. (1948) A last remnant of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Cuba. Auk 65: 497–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennis, J. V. (1979) The Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis. Avicult. Mag. 85: 75–84.Google Scholar
Estrada, A. R. and Alayón García, G. (1986a) Reporte de expeditión: Búsqueda de Carpintero Real. Volante Migratorio 6: 15.Google Scholar
Estrada, A. R. and Alayón García, G. (1986b) La existencia del Carpintero Real o Pico de Marfil en Cuba, es realidad, no un suefio. Volante Migratorio 7: 25–27.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. A. (1991) Will-ó-the-wisp. Living Bird Q. 10(1): 29–32.Google Scholar
Lamb, G. R. (1957) The Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Cuba. New York: International Commit tee for Bird Preservation, Pan-American Section (Res. Rep. 1).Google Scholar
Lammertink, J. M. (1992) Search for Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Cuba. Dutch Birding 14: 170–173.Google Scholar
McNeely, J. W. (1992) 1992 Ivory-billed Woodpecker Expedition Report. Unpublished.Google Scholar
Reynard, G. (1988) Bird songs in Cuba. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.Google Scholar
Short, L. L. (1985) Last chance for the Ivorybill. Nat. Hist. 94: 66–68.Google Scholar
Short, L. L. and Home, J. F. M. (1986) The Ivorybill still lives. Nat. Hist. 95: 26, 28.Google Scholar
Short, L. L. and Home, J. F. M. (1990) The Ivory-billed Woodpecker — the costs of specialization. Pp.93–98 in Carlson, A. and Aulén, G. eds. Conservation and management of woodpecker populations. Uppsala: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Wildlife Ecology.Google Scholar
Tanner, J. T. (1942) The Ivory-billed Woodpecker. New York: National Audubon Society (Audubon Res. Rep. 1).Google Scholar