Ivory billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis). Magnificent native of virgin forests in the southeastern US. Since we like to hunt, and even more critically, we destroyed all the virgin forests ... there are no Ivory billed Woodpeckers anymore. We killed off a big one and continue to cause mass extinctions. Congratulations, homo sapiens: miserable, arrogant species who thinks we are better than all others. Painting by Laura G. Young, from specimens at the Denver Museum of Nature…

Carl Brenders Ivory Billed Woodpecker

We look at facts about the ivory-billed woodpecker, including what we know about this species and if they really are extinct.

The ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is the third largest woodpecker in the world and the largest north of Mexico. The elusive woodpecker had last been seen in the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas in 2004, but it was still determined to be extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) last year.

From Alabama to Wyoming, here's a comprehensive list of the most endangered species in each state.

Ivory-billed woodpeckers and pileated woodpecker are giants in the bird world. Do they share a family connection?

Wryneck, Ivory Billed Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Common/Northern Flicker, Rufous Piculet, White Barred Piculet.....(clockwise from upper left corner)....1984 Encyclopedia of World Birds.....via My Sunshine Vintage on EBAY