ivory-billed woodpecker

[ ahy-vuh-ree-bild wood-pek-er, ahy-vree- ]

noun

1. a large, black and white woodpecker, Campephilus principalis, of the southern U.S. and Cuba, with a length of about 20 inches (51 centimeters), an ivory-colored bill that has a uniquely flattened tip, and a prominent crest that is mostly red on the males: dependent on the vast tracts of primeval hardwoods that were deforested with intensity from the mid-19th century, the ivory-billed woodpecker is now classified as possibly extinct.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ivory-billed woodpecker¹

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Example Sentences

The US declared the ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species extinct.

From Vox

If we only focus on preventing extinction of the ivory-billed woodpeckers of the world, and a small handful of other charismatic species, Long said, the best we can hope for is preventing that fate for a handful of plants and animals.

From Vox

The political will to find — and save — the ivory-billed woodpecker never flagged.

From Washington Post

The ivory-billed woodpecker, a supersized cousin of the pileated woodpecker, lived in the swamps and pine forests of the Southeast until habitat loss drove it under in the mid 1900s.

From Popular-Science

The logcock and the ivory-billed woodpecker have the longest tails—because they are the largest birds.

From Project Gutenberg