Oct 4, 2021 - News

How the ivory-billed woodpecker's extinction impacts Florida

Selene San Felice

Ivory billed woodpecker and willow oak (20th century). Courtesy: State Archives of Florida

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the ivory-billed woodpecker, which once ranged across Florida and the rest of the Southeast, extinct, AP reports.

Why it matters: Reports of sightings in recent decades launched a flurry of searches in the swamps of Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida — but they were ultimately fruitless.

Some maintain that it's premature to call the bird extinct.

Flashback: In the 1920s, Floridians called them "Good Lords."

Florida was the bird's North American stronghold because of the state's warm climate and swampy terrain. Collectors found hundreds in Florida in the 1890s.

The big picture: The ivory-billed woodpecker just is the best-known species of 23 fauna and flora on the Fish and Wildlife Service's list of extinctions.

Globally, 902 species have officially been documented as extinct, but the actual number is thought to be much higher.

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How the ivory-billed woodpecker's extinction impacts Florida

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