Ivory-billed Woodpecker | Southeast Region

Attention Birders!

Trying to add the Ivory-billed Woodpecker to your life list? While the bird is extremely elusive and it is unlikely that individuals will see one, the Service and its partners have created maps to direct bird watchers and outdoor enthusiasts to accessible areas within the bird’s habitat.

Big Woods Birding Opportunities

The Cache River and White River ecosystem contain many species of birds. A bird list brochure and recreation tear sheet for both national wildlife refuges is available on-line and at the refuge headquarters.

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge --

Check out the maps of bird viewing areas -- (pdf's)

Cache River NWR Bird List
Cache River NWR Tear Sheet

Maps showing observation and access areas at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Wildlife Management Areas can be found at http://www.agfc.com/ivorybilled/index.html#location.

Birding Ethics

Please mind common birding ethics! The American Birding Association has published Principles of Birding Ethics, and we request all birders to follow them. Visit http://www.americanbirding.org/ibwo.html to link to these principles.

Fast Facts --

In the early 1900s, conservationists warned of the impending extinction of the Ivory-billed woodpecker.

From 1937 to 1939, James Tanner, a young doctoral student at Cornell University, researched the Ivory-billed woodpeckers of the Singer Tract.

Prior to the 2004 discovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker at Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, this was the last authenticated sighting of the bird in the United States.

Much of the information comes from “Hope Is The Thing With Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds” by Christopher Cokinos.

Last updated: March 11, 2010