Ivory-billed Woodpecker Fact Sheet

The Search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

April 28, 2005—The search for the ivory-billed woodpecker was launched in March 2004 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Nature Conservancy and individuals already involved in effort. The search team included more than 50 employees, contractors and volunteers, most of whom spent up to 14 hours a day in canoes looking for the bird in the swampy bayous of eastern Arkansas. The search team has – for the most part – been based in camps at the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, where the initial and all subsequent sightings occurred, and at the White River National Wildlife Refuge. So far, more than $10 million has been raised to fund the search and acquire habitat critical to the survival of the ivory-bill. Other individuals and agencies involved in the search include: Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala., Louisiana State University, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of Amsterdam, Birdman Productions, LLC, and Civic Enterprises, LLC.

Feb. 11, 2004

While kayaking through the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Gene Sparling of Hot Springs, Ark., observes an ivory-billed woodpecker. Soon thereafter, Sparling places a trip report in an online newsletter for the Arkansas Canoe Club and later sends a report to Mary Scott, who owns the rights for www.birdingamerica.com, which includes a page on the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Feb. 17, 2004

Scott sends the report to Tim Gallagher, editor-in-chief of Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Living Bird magazine, who conducts a telephone interview with Sparling. Gallagher then contacts his colleague Bobby Harrison, a longtime ivory-bill searcher and an associate professor at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala., who also interviews Sparling. When Gallagher and Harrison compare notes, the two agree Sparling could well have seen an ivory-billed woodpecker.

Feb. 26, 2004

Gallagher and Harrison, who for the previous two years had been interviewing people across the South who claimed to have seen ivory-bills, travel to Arkansas and canoe with Sparling through the bayou where he spotted the woodpecker.

Feb. 27, 2004

On the second day of their outing, as Sparling paddles ahead, a large black-and-white bird flies in front of Gallagher and Harrison, in what they both describe as a “close-up, unmistakable sighting” of an ivory-billed woodpecker. The two watch the bird move from tree to tree before it flies out of sight. This sighting was the first time since 1944 two experienced observers had together positively identified an ivory-billed woodpecker in the United States.

Mar. 1, 2004

Gallagher returns to Cornell and informs John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, of their sighting. Harrison informs officials at Oakwood College, and Sparling contacts John Simpson, a Nature Conservancy board member, David Luneau, a professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock who participated in the 2002 search in the Pearl River Wildlife Management area in Louisiana, and Scott Simon, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Arkansas Chapter. The team works closely and quickly to organize and fund an extensive search.

Mar. 2004

The partnership launches an official search for the ivory-bill.

Apr. 5, 2004

Jim Fitzpatrick, executive director for the Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center, sees an ivory-bill flying just above the treetops near the initial sighting area.

Apr. 10, 2004

Melinda LaBranche of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology watches through binoculars as an ivory-bill flies above the treetops at the same location where the April 5 sighting occurred.

Apr. 11, 2004

Melanie Driscoll of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology watches through binoculars as an ivory-bill flies across a gap in the forest.

Apr. 25, 2004

David Luneau, of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, captures on video what he and other experts now believe to be an ivory-billed woodpecker. After the video is analyzed, John Fitzpatrick states, “The bird captured on this video can be nothing other than an ivory-billed woodpecker.”

Jun. 9, 2004

Harrison, one of the first three to spot the ivory-bill in the Arkansas search, reports seeing an ivory-bill flush from near the base of a bald-cypress about 15 meters in front of him.

Nov. 9, 2004

Marshall Iliff, a long-time birder who has extensive experience with Campephilus woodpeckers (the genus to which the ivory-bill belongs), hears double-knocks that he identifies as sounds made by an ivory-billed woodpecker.

Dec. 2004 to Jan. 2005

An autonomous recording unit captures a number of distinct double-knocks strikingly similar to those made by Campephilus woodpeckers. So far, however, researchers have not been able to rule out other potential sound sources.

Feb. 14, 2005

Casey Taylor of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports hearing a series of double knocks and a short time later observes through her binoculars as an ivory-bill flies across an open area before disappearing into the forest.

For More Information About the Ivory-billed Woodpecker:

Found: The Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Learn about the timeline of the search for the ivory-bill, The Nature Conservancy's conservation efforts in the Big Woods of Arkansas, meet the search team, and more!
Live audio chat about the ivory-billed woodpecker with Phillip Hoose
Phillip Hoose, author of The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, discusses the recent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas
The Nature Conservancy's work in Arkansas helps protect and restore ecologically rich wetlands, threatened native prairies, caves, forests and waterways.
Places We Protect: The Big Woods of Arkansas
This 550,000-acre corridor of floodplain forest follows the bayous and rivers that flow into the Mississippi River and includes the most extensive example of natural shoreline along the lower Mississippi. For 41 miles, the banks on both sides of the river are lined with bottomland hardwoods, the habitat of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
How You Can Help: Donate online
Support our efforts to conserve this critical habitat for the ivory-bill and other species.
Ivory-billed Woodpecker News
See ivory-billed woodpecker photos, maps of the habitat of the ivory-bill, and other news and information about the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker.