Imperial Woodpecker
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| Imperial Woodpecker Conservation status: Critical | ||||||||||||||
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| Campephilus imperialis (Gould,, 1832) |
The Imperial Woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis) is (or was) a member of the woodpecker family Piciformes. It is (or was) the world's largest woodpecker species.
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.
It preferred open forests made up of Montezuma Pine. It fed mainly by scaling bark from dead pine trees and feeding on the insect larvae found underneath.