FW: [OrangeCountyBirding] Possible Imperial WP sighting!

[bcurrie100 at comcast dot net]

Hello all,

I apologize in advance for a long e-mail.  I know a couple of people subscribe to this Orange County board, but for those who do not I wanted to pass on this very interesting information.  The Imperial Woodpecker does not have all the PR that the Ivory-billed has, but if it has truly been seen (unfortunately no way to confirm this presently but the people who saw it have some good credentials) it truly would be great to have confirmed sightings of the Ivory-billed AND the Imperial WPs within the same year (or two really).  If the Imperial is still alive, then it is the largest woodpecker in the world coming in at a whopping 22 - 24 inches.  I am trying to not make this e-mail too long, but for those who are interested here is an interesting note from John James Audubon about the imperial: http://www.abirdshome.com/Audubon/VolIV/00425.html and this from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia:
"The male has a red crest, but is otherwise black, apart from the inner primaries, which are white-tipped, and white secondaries. The female is similar but the crest is black, not red. It was once widespread throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico.
This 60-centimeter-long bird is officially listed as "Critically Endangered", although the last positive sighting was in Durango, Mexico in 1958 and it is probably now extinct. The reason for its decline is probably loss of habitat, although it was probably set in motion by over-hunting."
And as you can see from this artist's rendition, it is actually a cousin to the Ivory-billed: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=718&m=0  Its habitat seems quite different from the Ivory-billed.

-------------- Forwarded Message: -------------- 
From: "Lori Conrad" <lconrad@adelphia.net> 
<BIRDWG05@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>, "SDbirds" Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] Possible Imperial WP sighting! 
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 04:49:09 +0000 
Hi all

I just saw this post on Mexico-birding, & thought it interesting enough to pass on, for those who don't read that list.

Sorry for all of the cross-postings!

Lori Conrad
Hermosa Beach, CA 

See below:

      From: "John Spencer" <bajabirdwatcher@...> 
      Date: Mon Nov 7, 2005  8:57 am 
      Subject: Possible Imperial Woodpecker sighting!  bajabirdwatcher 
       Ron and Sarojam Makau are bird-watching friends of mine. They are avid bird watchers, who live (part-time) near Cabo Pulmo, BCS. They are both professors at UC Riverside in the Biology Dept.

      They just got back from the Copper Canyon trip. They had some fantastic news ... they are sure, absolutly sure, that the saw an Imperial Woodpecker (!) near Divisadero on the north rim of Copper Canyon.

      I questioned them closely, but they were sure, based on the description in Peterson.

      Howell says that the bird is extinct and last sighting in 1956.

      Peterson says very rare but not extinct.

      They swear that they saw the female that has a very unusal reverse crest. They both are experienced birders and are biology professors at UC Riverside. They have birded all over the world and are really good
birders. I belive their sighting.

      They saw the bird about 30 ft up a pine tree, clinging to the trunk.
      They were about 50 to 60 feet away, with good light. They observed the bird for about 2 minutes, during that time the bird turned her head and the crest was seen at several angles, definitaly matched the
drawing in Peterson for the female. The bird flew off with slow heavy wingbeats (descriped as Raven-like flight). No sounds were heard. The sighting was about 0700 on the trail near the big hotel on the canyon     rim.

      If they aren't mistaken (and I don't think they are) I'm going to spend several days birding that area. Wow, to get a photo of a bird that is listed as extinct.

      I haven't been following reports, but have there been any other sightings of this bird?

      After Thanksgiving I'm crossing to the mainland and spending a week or so in that area trying to get a photo verification.

      I know that this is an unconfirmed and second-hand report, but I personaly know the reporters and belive their sighting.

      
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