ivory-billed woodpecker

American  

[ahy-vuh-ree-bild wood-pek-er, ahy-vree-] / ˈaɪ və riˌbɪld ˈwʊdˌpɛk ər, ˈaɪ vri- /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of ivory-billed woodpecker

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Example Sentences

Along with the passenger pigeon we exterminated the great auk, the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck and the ivory-billed woodpecker.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

Cooper writes: “As a Black kid in the 1970s, I was rarer than an ivory-billed woodpecker in the very white world of birding.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2024

Eleven have been declared extinct, a label proposed for 23 others, including the ivory-billed woodpecker.

From Washington Times • Aug. 4, 2023

Of course, the urge to “rediscover” lost species or the related impulse to hunt for “cryptids” is understandable: What birder wouldn’t want to see an ivory-billed woodpecker?

From Slate • May 27, 2023

“We could tell him we just spotted an ivory-billed woodpecker or a blue-throated hummingbird,” said Abia Sulayman.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein