An Extinct Woodpecker Flies Back Into View
10/27/2011
One species that modern birders can never add to their life lists is the imperial woodpecker, but now, a rediscovered 85-second film clip offers a unique opportunity to see this vanished species in action.
Imperial woodpeckers (male on left, Museum specimens, UMMZ 29216 on left, 29217, collected in Durango, Mexico in 1898). Credit: Phil Myers (photographer, copyright holder), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan.
Raven-sized Campephilus imperialis was once the world’s largest woodpecker, dwarfing the closely related ivory-billed woodpecker. A resident of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental, the imperial woodpecker lived in high-elevation, old-growth forests, where it found plenty of large, dead pines for excavating nest cavities and foraging for beetle larvae. Early in the 20th century, these aristocratic-looking birds often could be found in groups of five to ten. By the 1960s, not even locals saw them any more. Intensive commercial logging and, to a lesser extent, hunting, had taken an irreversible toll.
In 1956, Pennsylvania dentist and amateur ornithologist William L. Rhein caught the last officially recognized glimpse of a living imperial woodpecker. He documented the occasion on 16-mm color motion-picture film, but he kept that souvenir to himself, dismissing it as “very poor footage.” If not for the efforts of Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientist and Campephilus super-fan Martjan Lammertink, those flickering images might have remained lost forever.
Rhein’s movie may be a bit shaky – after all, he shot it with a handheld camera while riding a mule – but except for 160 mounted specimens and study skins, it’s all we have left of this magnificent bird. Lammertink and his colleagues have spent the past few years analyzing each of the film’s 2,041 frames. This month they shared their findings in the pages of The Auk. Better yet, they made the film footage publically available for the first time.
One image-stabilized excerpt captures Rhein’s subject hitching up a tree trunk. Another zooms in to show bark chips flying as she hunts for hidden prey. But, unsteady or not, the unedited version is the most mesmerizing.
I found myself holding my breath as I watched the bird, one of the last of her kind, go about her business. Her forward-curved crest bobs about as she pecks and hops. Then she launches from a treetop with deep, powerful wing strokes and flies out of sight. I can, and will, play that scene over and over, but nothing can ever bring the imperial woodpecker back to life.
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Having grown up on Woody
Having grown up on Woody Woodpecker cartoons as a child, I have always been fascinated by seeing woodpeckers in person. While they don't have that same laugh that made the cartoon famous, they are quite exquisite birds when seen up close.
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Woodpecker (Campephilus
Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is or was one of the largest woodpecker in the world, about 20 inches long and 30 inch wingspan. This is the original virgin forests of the southeastern United States (including a separate subspecies native Cuba).
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The unique team has
The unique team has reanalyzed the movie, re-created analyze circumstances with coloured designs, and seems assured with their unique recognition. They especially fight the idea of the chicken being a pileated woodpecker.
Cornell U. I Thank you for
Cornell U. I Thank you for Ornithology Department, and to rescue the video clips and share with the public works.
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I am happy when reading your blog with updated information! thanks alot and hope that you will post more site that are related to this site.
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I am happy to find your distinguished way of writing the post. Now you make it easy for me to understand and implement the concept. Thank you for the post
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Really interesting article,
Really interesting article, and truly engaging, I must add. I’ve subscribed to your RSS so I can look forward to more good posts from you.
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So much has been said about
So much has been said about Steven’s War and Peace, but the points made here are of value I haven’t found elsewhere. Thanks
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As opposed to most other
As opposed to most other wildlife, woodpeckers like to eat bugs. Once discovered throughout the enormous Sierra Madre Occidental in South america, such as Jalisco, their statistics have been continuously decreasing, with no verified sightings these days. So, do not hurry out with your field glasses in desires to get a look of one. cabinet humidor
Very fantastic post. I
Very fantastic post. I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work
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Awww, I love woodpeckers. As
Awww, I love woodpeckers. As a kid when I loved watching my magic shows on TV, I'd always be interrupted by them knocking at the window. As it turns out, I now work for Magicians in San Antonio for kids and I'm reading your blog about woodpeckers. Amazing how life comes full circle.
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The body plumage of this
The body plumage of this spectacular chicken is a gorgeous non colored documents. The women, while missing the amazing red crest, is similarly gorgeous in her non colored documents plumage, having a long, styling dark-colored crest. Not only are they wonderful, but their actual make up is just as amazing. wine decanters
Don't be afraid if you are
Don't be afraid if you are not doing any mistake. Just explain with a good words.
Agreed. Muay Thai.
Agreed. Muay Thai.
Along with many other
Along with many other birders and ornithologists, including Jerome Jackson, Rick Prum, Mark Robbins, and Kenn Kaufmann, I became skeptical soon after reading and reviewing the evidence.
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Thanks for all the careful,
Thanks for all the careful, frame-by-frame analysis of the Luneau woodpecker with known Pileateds. When you compare the two sets of images it becomes much easier to see that the Luneau woodpecker could be/is definitely a Pileated.
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This is the original virgin
This is the original virgin forests of the southeastern United States (including a separate subspecies native Cuba). Because of residential destruction and hunting for a lower level, the number had diminished to the point where it is not certain whether to stay. Species is listed as critically endangered and possibly gone by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ..tv udbydere
The Choctawhatchee River in
The Choctawhatchee River in northwest Florida, beginning in 2005 (Hill, et al., 2006). This report is accompanied by proof that the author himself was considered suggestive for the presence of Ivory-billed woodpecker. Look in Florida until 2009 failed to produce a certain confirmation.
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There is some dispute over
There is some dispute over whether the Ivory-billed woodpecker is more accurate to Cuba has been identified as a separate species. A recent study of DNA samples taken from specimens in comparison to both the Ivory-bill birds along the Imperial Woodpecker, a bird larger but otherwise very similar. This will not only conclude that the Ivory-billed woodpecker Cuba and America are genetically different ...
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Full of useful resource and
Full of useful resource and great layout very easy on the eyes. Please do keep up this great work.
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A small military of
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Every spiece is a part of
Every spiece is a part of the nature...everytime one extincted, the nature step one closer to disappear...it's true
Thanks for posting the
Thanks for posting the video, it is so sad when one realizes that there are species extinct forever...
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Ein sehr guter Beitrag! Bin
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This is such an amazing
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I too grew up watching Woody
I too grew up watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons, and new really knew what a woodpecker looked like and behaved like...until now.
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What an amazing video. It's
What an amazing video. It's so sad to see her fly off and realize this is the only glimpse we will ever have of such a beautiful bird.
I was greatly interested
I was greatly interested with what you have shared and posted with us. Thanks for this anyway.
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Well, I always salute the
Well, I always salute the hard bloggers. Please come with more information, thanx for sharing.
Thanks for bringing this
Thanks for bringing this video to my attention. So sad knowing that we'll never get to see this magnificent woodpecker in real life. I appreciate Cornell U. Ornithology department and work in rescuing this video clip and sharing it with the public.
I just can’t stop reading
I just can’t stop reading this. Its so fresh, so filled with updates that I just didn’t know.
Watching this poignantly
Watching this poignantly beautiful video brought me joy, amazement and sorrow all at once! What a beautiful bird, no wonder the name Imperial Woodpecker. Seeing this lost-forever bird in motion was priceless. Thank you for sharing it. She flew away into a new home in the sun.
Nice article, thanks for
Nice article, thanks for sharing this information. Good to know that this topic is being covered also in this web site.
Thank you for this! I can
Thank you for this! I can only hope and trust that there won't be too many more birds that we will only see thanks to small miracles like this one. Keep up the great work Cornell Lab of Ornithology!!!!
I wish someone had filmed the Carolina Parakeet.
Awesome Article! And the
Awesome Article! And the video is great as well
Intensive commercial logging
Intensive commercial logging and, to a lesser extent, hunting, had taken an irreversible toll.
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there is no conclusive
there is no conclusive evidence for the continued existence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker; i.e., there are no unambiguous photographs, videos, specimens or DNA samples from feathers or feces of the Ivory-billed. Land acquisition and habitat restoration efforts have been initiated in certain areas where there is a relatively high probability that the species may have survived to protect any possible surviving individuals.
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