Emperor Woodpecker
| Emperor Woodpecker | ||||||||||
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Emperor woodpecker ( Campephilus imperialis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Campephilus imperialis | ||||||||||
| ( Gould , 1832) |
The emperor woodpecker ( Campephilus imperialis ) is the largest woodpecker in the world. Like the somewhat smaller ivory woodpecker ( Campephilus principalis ), which is closely related to it , it is threatened with extinction and is probably already extinct.
features
The emperor woodpecker, like the ivory woodpecker, has a black and white pattern, the male with a pointed black and red hood, the female with a pointed black hood. In contrast to this, it is significantly larger at up to 60 cm and has no white stripe on both sides of the neck.
distribution
The emperor woodpecker was widespread in the northwestern highlands of Mexico , from western Sonora and Chihuahua to south to Jalisco and Michoacan. He colonized the pine / oak forests at an altitude between 1700 and 3100 m above sea level. NN.
Threat history
The last reliable evidence from the field dates back to 1956, another after the entry by the Natural History Museum Vienna from 1993. Subsequently, only uncertain reports from the highlands of northwestern Mexico became known (until 2005). In particular, the destruction of its natural habitat through the deforestation of the old oak and pine stands, rich in dead wood, led to the extinction of the population.
literature
- Arthur Cleveland Bent : Life Histories of North American Woodpeckers . Dover, New York 1964
- Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott & Jordi Sargatal : Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2002, ISBN 8-4-87334-37-7 ( Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 7: Glossy birds to woodpeckers. )
Web links
- Prepared emperor woodpecker (male, 1885) in the show room 32 of the Natural History Museum Vienna
- Only known film recording from 1956 (from the archives of Cornell University )
- Campephilus imperialis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 30 of 2009.