Imperial woodpecker

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Imperial woodpecker
Kaiserspecht fg02.jpg
Female (left) and male (right) mounted specimens, Museum Wiesbaden
Status iucn3.1 CR.svg
Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Campephilus
Species:
C. imperialis
Binomial name
Campephilus imperialis
(Gould, 1832)
Campephilus imperialis map.svg
Synonyms [2]

Picus imperialisGould, 1832

The imperial woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis) is a woodpecker species endemic to Mexico. If it is not extinct, it is the world's largest woodpecker species, at 56–60 cm (22–23.5 in) long. [3] Researchers have discovered that the imperial woodpecker has slow climbing strides and a fast wing-flap rate compared with other woodpeckers. Owing to its close taxonomic relationship, and its similarity in appearance, to the ivory-billed woodpecker (C. principalis), it is sometimes called the Mexican ivory-billed woodpecker, but this name is also used for the extant pale-billed woodpecker (C. guatemalensis). The large and conspicuous bird has long been known to the native inhabitants of Mexico and was called cuauhtotomomi in Nahuatl, uagam by the Tepehuán and cumecócari by the Tarahumara.

Description and ecology

Turnaround video of a male study skin RMNH.AVES.110098, the Naturalis Biodiversity Center

The imperial woodpecker's typical size ranges from 56 to 60 centimetres (22.0 to 23.6 in). The male imperial woodpecker has a red-sided crest, centered black, but otherwise mostly black, with large white wing-patches, thin white “braces” on its mantle and a huge ivory-colored bill. They are all black except for the inner primaries, which are white-tipped, the white secondaries and a white scapular stripe which, unlike the ivory-billed woodpecker, does not extend onto the neck. The female is similar, but her crest is all black and (unlike the female ivory-bill) recurved at the top, lacking any red. Much larger than any other sympatric woodpecker, it is the only woodpecker in the area with solid black underparts. Its voice is reportedly toy trumpet-like. The bird was once widespread and, until the early 1950s, not uncommon throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, from western Sonora and Chihuahua southwards to Jalisco and Michoacán. It is likely that, in the past, the woodpecker's range followed the Sierra Madre north into Arizona, but by the time it was scientifically described in the 19th century, it was already confined to Mexico. It has been suggested that it might occur in Arizona, [4] and there is also a hypothetical record of it in 1958 in Big Bend National Park, Texas, [5] however this is not mentioned in Oberholser's two-volume The Bird Life of Texas.

The imperial woodpecker prefers open montane forests made up of Durango, Mexican white, loblolly and Montezuma pines, as well as oaks, usually between 2,100 and 2,700 metres (6,900 and 8,900 ft) above sea level. Most records are from elevations of 1,920 to 3,050 metres (6,300 to 10,010 ft), but there are records as low as 1,675 metres (5,500 ft). It feeds mainly on the insect larvae found underneath bark scaled from dead pine trees. There are many reports of more than four individuals, and this grouping behaviour may be related to its foraging specialisation. Breeding has been recorded between February and June, and probably one to four eggs are laid. A mated pair requires a very large area of untouched mature forest to survive, approximately 26 km2 (10 sq mi); outside the breeding season, the birds are reported to form small groups of up to 12 individuals and move about a wide area, apparently in response to the availability of food. [6] The main food source, beetle larvae in snags, is probably distributed in patches and peaks within a short period of time. Consequently, feeding sites are probably best exploited by "nomadic" groups. If operating in groups of seven or eight individuals, the minimum area of old-growth forest for a group is 98 km2 (38 sq mi).[ citation needed ]

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has released a film of the imperial woodpecker recorded in Mexico in 1956. [7]

Decline and probable extinction

Adult male (front) and adult female (back) Campephilus imperialisCZ015P03CA1.jpg
Adult male (front) and adult female (back)

The imperial woodpecker is officially listed as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)" by the IUCN and BirdLife International. It was not historically a rare species within a suitable habitat, but the total population probably never numbered more than 8,000 individuals (Lammertink et al. 1996). Any remaining population is assumed to be tiny (numbering fewer than 50 mature individuals) based on the lack of confirmed records since 1956; analyses of remaining habitats indicate that no tracts remain which are large enough to support the species. The last confirmed record was from Durango in 1956 and the species is very likely now extinct. If they have gone extinct, it would have been due to habitat destruction and fragmentation combined with hunting. These factors are the reason why the species has not been seen in over 60 years, although there have been local reports of sightings. Researchers believe that their decline was also accelerated by active eradication campaigns conducted by logging interests and by over-hunting — for use in folk medicine and because nestlings were considered a delicacy by the Tarahumara. It has been hunted for sport, food and for medicinal purposes over a long period of time and feathers and bills were reportedly used in rituals by the Tepheuana and Huichol tribes in the south of Durango. Additionally, imperial woodpeckers are stunning birds and, as the species became increasingly rare, many were apparently shot by people who had never encountered such a bird and wanted to get a closer look. [6] [8]

Female preserved specimen at the Museum fur Naturkunde, Berlin; note hand for size comparison Campephilus imperialis MNB 19265 DSCF5230.png
Female preserved specimen at the Museum für Naturkunde , Berlin; note hand for size comparison

The habitat in which the imperial woodpecker was located was predominantly in coniferous forests (terrain levels at 2,700-2,900 m. elevation). The area in which they lived was abundant with large dead trees, the removal of which could be linked to their extinction. The area had been cleared and logged multiple times by 2010. Increasing effort in conservation biology is being devoted to the analysis of the extinction risk as well as the search for the rare, long unseen, species. There are a handful of more recent, unconfirmed sightings, [9] the most recent of which closely followed the 2005 publication of the purported rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker. Lammertink et al. (1996), after extensively reviewing post-1956 reports, conclude that the species did indeed survive into the 1990s in the central part of its range, but also consider its continued survival very unlikely. According to them, the population was always restricted in historic times, although the species was indeed present in maximum density before a catastrophic decline during the 1950s. The lack of good records from that time is apparently based more on lack of research than on actual rarity, but this seems to have changed radically only one decade later. [6]

Field research by Tim Gallagher and Martjan Lammertink, reported in Gallagher's 2013 book, found evidence — in the form of accounts by elderly residents in the bird's range who saw imperial woodpeckers decades earlier and who discussed their recollections with the researchers — that foresters working with Mexican logging companies in the 1950s told the local people that the woodpeckers were destroying valuable timber and encouraged the people to kill the birds. As part of this campaign, the foresters gave the local residents poison to smear on trees that the birds foraged on. Because groups of imperial woodpeckers tended to feed on a single huge, dead, old-growth pine tree for as long as two weeks, applying poison to such a tree would be an effective way to wipe out a group of up to one dozen of these huge woodpeckers — and, perhaps, even to kill off succeeding groups of the birds that might move into the area and be attracted to the same tree. Gallagher suspects that such a campaign of poisoning may be the key to the species' apparent catastrophic population crash in the 1950s, which has hitherto lacked a satisfactory explanation. A campaign of poisoning could well have killed whole groups of the bird in a short time. The premise of protecting valuable timber from the woodpeckers was, in fact, baseless. Imperial woodpeckers do not forage on or excavate nest or roosting holes in live, healthy trees. [10] [11]

In Gallagher's nonfiction account The Grail Bird (2006), he discusses how difficult the search is for the imperial woodpecker due to its dangerous location. In Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental, there are major marijuana and opium poppy-growing regions that are patrolled by armed guards. The drug cartels often kill anyone who comes too close to their crops. [10]

A search of the multi-institution online specimen database VertNet [12] reveals that only 144 physical specimens of the imperial woodpecker exist, [13] including only three known complete skeletons. [14] An overlooked woodpecker skeleton from the Natural History Museum at Tring appears to also belong to the species. [15] The species is also known from a single amateur film from 1956 depicting one bird climbing, foraging and flying. The film has been restored and released by Cornell University. [16] Gallagher's inspiration to search for the imperial woodpecker was this 1956 film, taken by dentist William Rhein, who made several trips to Mexico in search of the imperial woodpecker. This is the only known photographic record of the species. [17]

The imperial woodpecker has been considered to be extinct by the Government of Mexico since 2001. However, its rediscovery or reintroduction would prompt immediate protection under the law. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodpecker</span> Family of birds (Picidae)

Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pileated woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The pileated woodpecker is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific Coast. It is the largest confirmed extant woodpecker species in North America, with the possible exception of the ivory-billed woodpecker, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed be reclassified as extinct. It is also the third largest species of woodpecker in the world, after the great slaty woodpecker and the black woodpecker. "Pileated" refers to the bird's prominent red crest, from the Latin pileatus meaning "capped".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimson-crested woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The crimson-crested woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Panama, Trinidad, and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.

Tim Gallagher is a writer and wildlife photographer and the author of six books: Parts Unknown, a Naturalist's Journey in Search of Birds and Wild Places; The Grail Bird, Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker; Falcon Fever, A Falconer in the 21st Century; Imperial Dreams, Tracking the Imperial Woodpecker Through the Wild Sierra Madre; Born to Fish, How An Obsessed Angler Became the World's Greatest Striped Bass Fisherman; and Wild Bird Photography, A Full-Color Guide. He was editor-in-chief of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Living Bird magazine for 26 years and before that was on the start-up editorial staff first managing editor of WildBird magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of Mexico and the United States

The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western part of Mexico. They are home to a large number of endemic plants and important habitat for wildlife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thick-billed parrot</span> Species of parrot formerly native to the U.S.

The thick-billed parrot is a medium-sized parrot endemic to Mexico that formerly ranged into the southwestern United States. Its position in parrot phylogeny is the subject of ongoing discussion; it is sometimes referred to as thick-billed macaw or thick-billed conure. In Mexico, it is locally called guacamaya ("macaw") or cotorra serrana. Classified internationally as Endangered through IUCN, the thick-billed parrot's decline has been central to multiple controversies over wildlife management. In 2018, the estimated wild population in Mexico was 1,700.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pale-billed woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The pale-billed woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Mexico to Panama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magellanic woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The Magellanic woodpecker is a species of large woodpecker found in southern Chile and southwestern Argentina; it is resident within its range. This species is the southernmost example of the genus Campephilus, which includes the famous ivory-billed woodpecker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Functional extinction</span> End of viability for a population

Functional extinction is the extinction of a species or other taxon such that:

  1. It disappears from the fossil record, or historic reports of its existence cease;
  2. The reduced population no longer plays a significant role in ecosystem function;
  3. The population is no longer viable. There are no individuals able to reproduce, or the small population of breeding individuals will not be able to sustain itself due to inbreeding depression and genetic drift, which leads to a loss of fitness.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial snipe</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-necked woodpecker</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmeted woodpecker</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great slaty woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The great slaty woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. A unique and basically unmistakable bird, it is the largest known species of woodpecker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veracruz moist forests</span> Tropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of Mexico

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivory-billed woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The ivory-billed woodpecker is a woodpecker that is native to the bottomland hardwood forests and temperate coniferous forests of the Southern United States and Cuba. Habitat destruction and hunting have reduced populations so thoroughly that the species is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on its Red List as critically endangered, and by the American Birding Association as "definitely or probably extinct". The last universally accepted sighting of an American ivory-billed woodpecker occurred in Louisiana in 1944, and the last universally accepted sighting of a Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker occurred in 1987, after the bird's rediscovery there the prior year. Sporadic reports of sightings and other evidence of the persistence of the species have continued since then.

La Michilía Biosphere Reserve is a protected area in northwestern Mexico. It is located in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the south of the state of Durango.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Espinazo del Diablo</span> Mountain region in northwest Mexico

The Espinazo del Diablo is a region of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the states of Sinaloa and Durango in northwestern Mexico. The region is known its natural beauty and biodiversity, including rare cloud forests, and for a stretch tortuous mountain highway also called the Espinazo del Diablo.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2020). "Campephilus imperialis ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T22681417A179185354. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22681417A179185354.en . Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Prŷs-Jones, Robert P. (2011). "Type Specimens of the Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis (Gould, 1832)". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 131 (4): 256–260. Retrieved 6 December 2023– via Internet Archive.
  3. ↑ "Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis ". BirdLife International. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  4. ↑ Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, vol. 2, p. 94
  5. ↑ Peterson, Western Birds, third edition (1990), p. 350
  6. 1 2 3 Lammertink, M.; Rojas-Tomé, J.A.; Casillas-Orona, F.M.; Otto, R.L. (1996). "Status and conservation of old-growth forests and endemic birds in the pine-oak zone of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico". Verslagen en Technische Gegevens Instituut voor Systematiek en Populatiebiologie (Zoologisch Museum). 69: 1–89. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
  7. ↑ Leslie Kaufman (October 28, 2011). "A Riveting Glimpse of a Vanished Bird". The New York Times . Archived from the original on October 29, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  8. ↑ Tim Gallagher (2013): Imperial Dreams: Tracking the Imperial Woodpecker Through the Wild Sierra Madre, pp. 224–26. New York: Atria Books. ISBN   978-1-4391-9152-1.
  9. ↑ Mendenhall, Matt (2005). "Old Friend Missing". Birder's World. 2005 (6): 35–39. Archived from the original on 2013-06-18. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
  10. 1 2 Gallagher: Imperial Dreams, pp. 224–26.
  11. ↑ Gallagher: Imperial Dreams, pp. 46, 54, 95, 139, 151, 225, 232.
  12. ↑ Constable, Heather; Guralnick, Robert; Wieczorek, John; Spencer, Carol; Peterson, A. Townsend; The VertNet Steering Committee (2010). "VertNet: a new model for biodiversity data sharing". PLOS Biology. 8 (2). doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000309 . PMC   2821892 . PMID   20169109. e1000309.
  13. ↑ "VertNet search for Campephilus imperialis". National Science Foundation. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ Wood, D. Scott; Schnell, Gary D. (1986). Revised world inventory of avian skeletal specimens, 1986 (PDF). American Ornithologists' Union. ISBN   0-943610-48-6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-11-21. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  15. ↑ Prŷs-Jones, Robert P.; Manegold, Albrecht; White, Judith (2021). "The conundrum of an overlooked skeleton referable to Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis in the collection of the Natural History Museum at Tring". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 141 (1): 66–74. doi: 10.25226/bboc.v141i1.2021.a7 . S2CID   232144192.
  16. ↑ Lammertink, Martjan; Gallagher, Tim W.; Rosenberg, Kenneth V.; Fitzpatrick, John W.; Liner, Eric; Rojas-Tomé, Jorge & Escalante, Patricia (2011). "Film Documentation of the Probably Extinct Imperial Woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis)". The Auk. 128 (4): 671–677. doi: 10.1525/auk.2011.10271 . S2CID   37529522.
  17. ↑ Gallagher: Imperial Dreams, pp. 225–26.
  18. ↑ Consideration of Proposals for Amendment of Appendices I and II (PDF). Sixteenth Meeting of the Conference of Parties. Bangkok: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora or Fauna. March 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

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