Comments on: Imperial Woodpecker Reported in Mexico

By: Tim Upham

Tim Upham — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:23:05 +0000

The area was visited and surveyed in 2010. The large stands of Durango pine, have been logged over numerous times since 1956. There just was no stands of them to have the dead and dying trees the Imperial woodpecker requires to survive.
While there was a slender thread of hope for the ivory-billed woodpecker, it seems like there was more of a slender thread for the Imperial woodpecker.

By: Philip Hotlen

Philip Hotlen — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:30:28 +0000

Another tidbit: Anyone interested in the Imperial Woodpecker should get a hold of Roland H. Wauer’s book: “A Naturalist’s Mexico”(1992). He has a short chapter on his exploration in the Maderas del Carmen high country, located near the Texas Big Bend country, but on the Mexican side. Those peaks are better watered than the arid Big Bend of Texas, and have pine forests on the eastern side.

He found evidence of large woodpeckers there on his first trip (tree holes) and interviews with Mexicans, e.g. a bear hunter who bragged about shooting them to eat, but had not seen them in recent years. Two American friends of the author claimed to have seen a large crested woodpecker a few years later.

I also ran across a reference, that I neglected to note down, that refers to an unconfirmed sighting of an Imperial Woodpecker in the Texas Big Bend (park?). The book referred to was a guide to birds of Mexico dated 1958.

Might this relict location might even point to a new Campephilus species, instead of being either Imperial or Ivory-billed Woodpeckers?

By: Philip Hotlen

Philip Hotlen — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:21:12 +0000

Me again. I was stationed at Fort Huachuca, AZ back in 1969-1971. My hobby was bird watching and exploring that great outdoors. On different occasions, I stood and looked deep into Mexico from the south end of the Huachuca Mountains and at Cloverdale in south-western New Mexico. At the latter point, with the Imperial Woodpecker in mind, I could see two different mountain ranges given as included in the range of that bird. It would be quite easy for it to come up from there to the Chiricahuas, via the Peloncillo Mountains. And it looks like that is what one did in the Chiricahua National Monument sighting mentioned earlier.

By: Doug Miller

Doug Miller — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:15:43 +0000

What conclusion has been reached by those in the know of the Makau sighting? I read somewhere a consensus had been reached that they probably saw a Steller’s Jay. I find this conclusion…er…unpossible. Either the reported sighting was a hoax (perhaps to drum up habitat preservation ala Sheridan?) or the Makau’s have the observation skills of a 5 year old. Hell, I’d put more money on the Steller’s Jay conclusion as a cover story masking a real Imperial sighting than for the Makau’s mistaking a Steller’s Jay for an Imperial Woodpecker at 60 ft. What say you?

By: Jimbones Schenk

Jimbones Schenk — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:54:07 +0000

Has the current dangerous climate in Mexico curtailed birders from going into the country? It seems grim that any surviving Imperials would be shot by locals in the Mexican mountains. i agree that it would be amazing if the Imperial made its way into the southwestern USA and established a small population here.

By: Richard Basey

Richard Basey — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:42:47 +0000

I and several friends of mine are reptile enthusiasts and researchers who have spent a fair amount of time traveling in out of the way mountainous areas of Mexico. One friend who is an employee of the Los Angeles Zoo, has told me of one of his trips to Chinipas (2007), NW of Temoris on the railroad south of Divisadero and in Chihuahua near the Sonora border and northeast of Alamos. In talking to a resident of Chinipas, inquiring about the local snakes, he was told of a very large woodpecker that is seen in the area. I do believe that this area was within the known range of the Imperial woodpecker. A very rough and long dirt road leads into this area from both directions.

By: Ralph Wojtech

Ralph Wojtech — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:10:26 +0000

I am more familiar with the IBWo search – but as an change of pace looked at the Imperial Woodpecker Internet postings tonight. This US sighting appears possible to me as i understand the Mexico Imperial range reached within 40 miles or so of our border. I would like to think we might have a small resident population stateside. That would be great news with possible better protection provided here.

Anyways, something to think about…thanks for the post!

By: Mark O. Rosacker

Mark O. Rosacker — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:53:41 +0000

I am a retired Zoo Curator from New Mexico….Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park, Carlsbad, NM. While I have done some birding, I consider my birding skills to be marginal at best. In any event, by virtue of my position, people often used to stop by and tell me about seeing some unusual bird or animal. This is purely heresay, however…

In the mid 1990′s, I had a couple stop by who had been travelling and camping across the southwest. They told me about an unusual bird they saw while camping in the higher back country of Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona. What they described to me sounded like an Imperial Woodpecker and I told them so at the time. They had never heard of an Imperial Woodpecker, but said that it was the largerst woodpecker that had ever seen, described it as about the size of a crow or raven(don’t recall now just which they said) and that it was black/dark, had a prominent bright red crest, and some prominent white on the wings. I took their names, which I couldn’t put my hands back on right now, but could possibly recover, as I was keeping a daily diary in those days. As I recall, I even tried to call someone at Chiricahua National Monument to tell them about the sighting, but it didn’t seem to generate much interest. If they recorded my call, they could still possibly have a record of the dates, times, exact or near location, and the people involved as well.

Water under the bridge at this point, but none-the-less, interesting to those who might wonder about an Imperial Woodpecker finding it’s way into the United States. We apparently have Jaguars in the the border country these days, who is to say that an Imperial might not have paid us a visit as well?

By: Philip Hotlen

Philip Hotlen — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 11:45:19 +0000

It would be great if a pair of Imperial Woodpeckers would find there way into the Arizona or New Mexico Pine forests, and establish a population there.

Maybe during the Pluvial period during the last ice age, when pine forests grew in the valleys of the US Southwest, the Imperial Woodpecker may have dwelt there also. Well, it’s just a thought.

By: Frank Gray

Frank Gray — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 04:53:17 +0000

Is all that you can say is “cough” and “bull” . Being a skeptic is a position of power, which you are apparantly exercising. Thank you and have a nice day.