Decision to declare the iconic ivory-billed woodpecker extinct, otherwise known as the ‘Lord God Bird’, has met with a fateful delay, federal wildlife officials revealed on Monday. This announcement follows the recent emergence of interface photo and video evidence that suggests the allegedly extinct bird was seen flitting through a Louisiana forest.
In the preceding year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service displayed a readiness to classify the bird as extinct, discussing plans for the removal of 23 species, inclusive of the ivory-billed woodpecker, from the endangered species list. This movement towards declassification was driven by an extensive analysis of the “best scientific and commercial data available,” indicating no evidence of the bird’s existence.
Contrary to those plans, officials announced on Monday the extinction of only 21 species, and surprisingly, the ivory-billed woodpecker was not among those named. The Service broadcasted its intention to “continue to analyze and review the information before deciding whether to delist the ivory-billed woodpecker,” it declared in a news release.
While the last officially acknowledged sighting of the vibrant red-crowned species was recorded by Don Eckelberry, an artist and birdwatcher, in April 1944, there have been persistent rumors of its continued existence. These assertions have come from not only seasoned biologists and enthusiastic birdwatchers, but also communities such as the Cherokee Nation who recognize it as an ingrained symbol with lasting cultural relevance.
An avalanche of public commentary ensued in response to the proposed removal of the bird from the endangered species list, leading the wildlife service to invite more public input and delay its decision to delist the bird until 2023. The ivory-billed woodpecker verdict has been once more put on hold.
Prominent ornithologist, John Fitzpatrick, the retired director emeritus of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology praised this postponement, stating, “the scientific community is by no means certain about the status of this iconic woodpecker,” with evidence of its existence continuously surfacing, even as the certainty of such evidence is questioned.
A piece of “compelling evidence” as indicated by the federal wildlife service, was research conducted in 2005 by Fitzpatrick and his team claiming sightings of the bird in eastern Arkansas’ Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. Ongoing searches in multiple regions, and the recent release of suggestive images have kept the hope alive.
The government specifically delists a species for one of three reasons: the species has recovered sufficiently to no longer require legal protection, new findings highlight the species is not threatened, or, the species has become extinct. Such removals are said to aid the agency in its endeavor to be “good stewards of conservation resources.”
In their quest to unearth the truth, a team from CNN joined birdwatchers in 2022 to explore the last known domain of the ivory-billed woodpecker, the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. Simultaneously, Project Principalis, named after the bird’s scientific fame, was gathering a decade’s worth of evidence accumulated by Steve Latta of the National Aviary and his colleagues.
Using cutting-edge technology such as unmanned trail cameras and drones, they uploaded blurred pictures of what they believed to be the ivory-billed woodpecker. Latta, convinced he witnessed the bird in 2019 stated, “we have some of the best images, if not the best images, that have been produced in 80 years.”
This May, the team went on to release peer-reviewed research, submitting a drone video from October 2022 of two ivory-billed woodpeckers perched on a branch. The ultimate goal was the preservation of the species, Latta explained, “Keeping the ivory-billed woodpecker on the endangered species list brings us one step closer to that goal.”
