Printable VersionBecause of the interest generated by the recent unconfirmed ivory-billed woodpecker sighting on the Pearl River WMA, we are offering these tips to help observers distinguish the extremely rare ivory-billed woodpecker from the similar, but fairly common, pileated woodpecker.
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Ivory-Billed Woodpecker |
Pileated Woodpecker |
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Large white patch on back of bird perched |
Back of bird perched with wings folded is almost all black |
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Upper surface of wings in flight has large white area on trailing edge |
Upper surface of wings in flight is mostly black |
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Under surface of wings in flight has white area on leading edge and large white area on the trailing edge seperated by black down the middle of each wing |
Under surface of wings in flight has large white area on the leading edge only |
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Beak is off-white |
Beak is gray |
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Crest of female is all black |
Crest of female is mostly red |
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Bird flies straight |
Bird flies with an undulating pattern |