The Ivory-billed Woodpecker once lived throughout the bottomland forests of southeastern North America. Habitat destruction and hunting greatly reduced their numbers, and many people believed this maginificent species was extinct by the middle of the 20th century. Following the observation of birds in Arkansas by Cornell University researchers, in May 2005 three researchers from Auburn University encountered an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the bottomland forests of the Florida panhandle. An international team of researchers from the University of Windsor and Auburn University began a detailed search for Ivory-bills along the Choctawhatchee River in December 2005. Dr. Dan Mennill coordinated an acoustic survey of the site, constructing seven remote Listening Stations capable of recording the sounds of the bottomland forests 24 hours per day. Recordings from Florida were analyzed in the Mennill Sound Analysis Laboratory at the University of Windsor. Through this website you can learn about the search, hear the recordings, view photos of the search team and the woodpecker's bottomland forest habitat, and find out more about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.


Choctawhatchee River - Photo by Paul Mennill
Contents of this webpage

2008 Search News - News from the 2008 acoustic search for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the Choctawhatchee and other bottomland forests will be available soon.

2007 News - Read the news blog from the 2007 search team on the Choctawhatchee River and the 2007 sound analysis team at the University of Windsor.

2007 Bioacoustic Team - Meet the team of searchers that conducted the 2007 bioacoustic search.

The Search - Read about our search for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers and the evidence we gathered in 2006 suggesting that they exist in the Florida Panhandle.

Sounds - Hear the sounds we recorded in 2006, including recordings of putative double knocks and kent calls.

Search Team - Meet the team of searchers who conducted the search for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the Florida panhandle in 2006.

Photos - See pictures of the 2006 search team in action, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker's swamp forest habitat, and our automated Listening Stations.

Advice to birders - Please read this important information if you are a birder interested in searching for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Florida.

Support the search - Find out how you can contribute to our search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the ongoing effort to protect this extraordinary species and its bottomland forest habitat.

Updates - Get the latest updates from the University of Windsor and Auburn University field research team as they embark on a second season of field research on the Choctawhatchee River.

Join the search - Find out how you can become part of our search team for the 2006/2007 search.

Partners - Find out who makes possible our ongoing efforts to find and document the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Links - Learn more about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker through links to other websites.

Credits - Acknowledgements and credits for this website.



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All information on this website is copyright Daniel Mennill.
No information on this page may used without explicit permission (dmennillATuwindsorDOTca).