Mississippi; Texas; Arkansas (black 

 List, extinct or near extinction). 



REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS 



C. p. principalis is probably very close to ex- 

 tinction because of the scarcity of suitable habitat 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1973). Ivory-bHls 

 disappeared when the mature forests they in- 

 habited were cut over, and the larger timber es- 

 sential for providing adequate food supply was 

 removed. In many cases, their disappearance al- 

 most coincided with logging operations; in other 

 cases there was no close correlation, but there are 

 not records of ivory -bills remaining very long after 

 cutting of forests. Their disappearance in the 

 Suwannee River region of Florida is believed to 

 have been due to excessive collecting rather than 

 logging (Tanner 1942). Herbert Stoddard and 

 Whitney Eastman shared the conviction that ivory- 

 bills were reduced to near extinction by gun pres- 

 sure, but that with large land holdings coming 

 into possession of ranchers and timber companies, 

 the bird had a better chance of survivzd (Eastman 

 1958). Some shooting for sport or curiosity is 

 known to have occurred, particularly before pas- 

 sage of protective laws. Although direct killing by 

 man is not as important as loss of habitat by log-' 

 ging in reducing their numbers, it could be impor- 

 tant locally when only a very few are left (Tanner 

 1942). 



C. p. bairdii, the Cuban Ivory-billed Wood- 

 pecker was once widely distributed in Cuba, but 

 is now limited to remote areas in Oriente Province. 

 Land clearing during the speculative sugar boom 

 of the early 1900's and later lumbering activities 

 extirpated it from its former range. By far the ma- 

 jor predator is man, as these woodpeckers are 

 prized as food by the natives (Lamb 1957). 



PRIORITY INDEX 



75 



DESCRIPTION 



C. p. principalis is a very large (crow-sized) 

 woodpecker, 50 cm long, with 46 cm wingspan. 

 Its shape is long and slender, with a long tapering 

 tail (Audubon 1842, Tanner 1942). Both sexes 

 are mostly glossy blue-black, with tail and pri- 

 maries duller black. There is a narrow white stripe 

 on each side of neck, starting below the eye and 

 continuing down to the folded secondaries, which 

 are conspicuously white, as are all but 5 of the 

 outermost primaries and the under-wing coverts. 

 This makes a large white patch on the rear half of 



the wing, narrowing toward the tip. The nasal 

 plumes and anterior edge of lores are white. The 

 crest is red in the male, black in the femede. The 

 iris is pale, clear lemon-yellow. Tarsi and toes are 

 light gray. The bill is large and ivory-white (Ridg- 

 way 1914, Tanner 1942). The best field identific- 

 ation character is the large white patch on the 

 wing, conspicuous when the bird is perched. Call 

 notes are a nasal "kent, kent" (Tanner 1942). 



Measurements.- Adult male (15): wing, 240- 

 263 (255.8 mm); tail, 147-160.5 (154.4); culmen, 

 63-72.5 (68.2); tarsus, 42.5-46 (44.2); outer an- 

 terior toe, 30-34 (32.1). Aduh female (11): wing, 

 240-262 (256.4 mm); tail, 151-166 (159.5); cul- 

 men, 61-67.5 (64.3); tarsus, 40.5-44 (42.6); outer 

 anterior toe, 30-33.5 (31.7) (Ridgway 1914). 



The eggs are pure china-white, exceedingly 

 glossy, and more pointed than most woodpeckers. 

 Measurements (13 eggs) 34.5 x 23.6 to 36.8 x 

 26.9 (av. 34.8 x 25.2 mm) (Bendire 1895). 



C. p. bairdii is similar to C. p. principalis but 

 slightly smaller; the bill is decidedly smaller; nasal 

 tufts much smaller; and white stripe on side of 

 head continues nearly to the base of the bill. 



Measurements.- Adult male (2): wing, 236- 

 250 (243 mm); tail, 137-154 (145.2); culmen, 

 59-61 (60); tarsus, 40-42 (41); outer anterior toe, 

 30.5-31.5 (31). Adult female (2): wing, 240-255 

 (247.5 mm); tail, 159.5-165.5 (162.5); culmen, 

 58-60 (59); tarsus, 41; outer anterior toe, 30.5- 

 31.5 (31) (Ridgway 1914). 



RANGE 



C. p. principalis formerly was a resident in the 

 bottomlands and swampy forests of southeastern 

 United States from northeastern Texas, south- 

 eastern Oklahoma, northeastern Arkansas, south- 

 eastern Missouri, southeastern Illinois, southern 

 Indiana and southeastern North Carolina, south- 

 ward to the Brazos River, Texas, the Gulf Coast 

 and southern Florida (A.O.U. 1957, Bent 1931, 

 Tanner 1942). There are probably a few still in 

 southeastern Texas, Louisiana, Florida and South 

 Carolina (Dennis Unpubl.). 



C. p. bairdii was formerly distributed widely 

 in Cuba, but is now apparently confined to north- 

 eastern Oriente Province (from the pinares of 

 Mayari eastward); it was seen at an elevation of ap- 

 proximately 213 m in 1942 (Bond 1950). Records 

 in the 20th century come only from northern 

 Oriente Province in the extreme eastern part of 

 Cuba. The Sierra del Cristo region apparently had 

 ivory-bills until at least 1920 (Dennis 1948). A 

 few pairs were thought by Barbour to be in the 

 Sierra de Nipe near Mayari (1943); Abelardo 



