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Rare recording of sounds |
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IVORY BILLED WOODPECKER (Campephilus principalis) The last sighting of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker was in March 1986 in a hilly, Cuban pine forest called Ojito de Aguaear. However, after two extensive expeditions in 1991 and 1993, it has become clear that the birds found in 1986 were in dire circumstances, and no other birds have been seen since then. The conclusion must be that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, C. principalis, had become extinct by 1990. All over its former range habitat has destroyed by logging activities and it is generally assumed that the species has been extinct in the U.S.A. for some time. The last sightings there are from the late 1970s. The birds only found sufficient food in primary forest with many dead and dying trees. This habitat became increasingly scarce as most southern virgin forest continued to be used to feed the insatiable appetite of pulp mills. Scan from Audubon's Birds of America Plate 66 | |