Ivory-billed Woodpecker

(L) Imperial, (C) Ivory-billed, (R) Pileated Woodpecker

photo by Bobby R. Harrison

Courtesy of the AMNH, New York

Imperial, Ivorybill and Pileated Woodpeckers:  I took this photo at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City while doing research on Ivory-billed Woodpeckers.  I took the image to illustrate the size differences among the three species, specifically the differences between an Ivorybill and a Pileated woodpecker.  Though I did not find a Pileated skin from Arkansas, I did find a northern Georgia specimen from approximately the same latitude as Brinkley, Arkansas, where Tim Gallagher and I saw an Ivorybill in 2004.  The Ivorybill specimen pictured here is from northern Florida and should be approximately 1/2 to 1 inch shorter than an Ivorybill from Arkansas.  Though study skins can be stretched during preparation, and can be made to appear larger, it is obvious in this image that Ivorybills are much larger than Pileated Woodpeckers.    

The Imperial Woodpecker here measures 23 inches, the Ivorybill measures 19 1/2 inches, and the Pileated measures 16 inches from tip of bill to tip of tail.