The Imperial is 20% larger than its closest relative, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)
1970—Listed under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Endangered Species Act
2005—International Union for Conservation of the Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List
Last confirmed sighting was in 1956, with eight later local reports in two remote areas after 1965 and a last sighting in 1996 in Durango. Mechanical logging and the removal of dead trees have destroyed habitats. Use as a food source, as well as various beliefs in health benefits of bird parts (i.e., plumage and bill), by indigenous peoples have contributed to its probable extinction.

Distribution
Once wide-spread throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental in México (above 6500 feet in the northern part and 8000 feet in the southern part) in Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Nayarit, and possibly Zacatecas, with isolated populations in western Jalisco and Michoacán

Home
Prefers high-altitude pine-oak forests with dead trees and snags for feeding and nesting. Density is one pair per 10 square miles.

Diet
Scales back bark of dead trees and feeds on insect larvae.

Breeding
Between February and June with clutches of 1-2 eggs. Young probably stay with parents until next nesting season.

Voice:
Reportedly sounds like a toy trumpet.

Learning Links: Visit the Centennial Museum/Chihuahuan Desert Gardens website at http://museum.utep.edu/ for the MP3 file of Desert Diary's "Imperial Woodpecker" and other learning links and coloring pages. PDF page for printing. ©Centennial Museum. fes 2006