Campephilus imperialis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PICIFORMES	PICIDAE

Scientific Name:

Campephilus imperialis

Species Authority:

(Gould, 1832)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Imperial Woodpecker
Spanish	–	Carpintero Gigante, Pito Imperial, Pitorreal Ocotero

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Critically Endangered D ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2010

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Symes, A., Butchart, S., Bird, J.

Contributor/s:

Lammertink, M.

Justification:
This species has not been recorded with certainty since 1956, and extensive habitat destruction and fragmentation combined with hunting may well have driven the species to extinction. Extensive and prolonged searches within its former range (often following up on anecdotal reports) have failed to confirm the persistence of any individuals. Thorough mapping and analysis of remaining habitat has been conducted and the results do not provide much hope that any population has been able to survive. However, it cannot yet be presumed to be Extinct as the degree to which individuals can utilise sub-optimal regenerating forest is unknown, and it remains possible that some individuals survive. Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).

History:

2009	–	Critically Endangered
2008	–	Critically Endangered
2004	–	Critically Endangered
2000	–	Critically Endangered
1996	–	Critically Endangered
1994	–	Critically Endangered

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Campephilus imperialis was formerly distributed throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico in Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Nayarit, Zacatecas (possibly) and north Jalisco with more isolated populations in west Jalisco and Michoacán. It was not historically a rare species within suitable habitat, but the total population probably never numbered more than 8,000 individuals¹. The last confirmed record was from Durango in 1956 but there have been convincing local reports of sightings after 1965^1,2. The most recent are of a pair in central Durango in 1993, a single male c.20 km from this site in 1995, and a single female in north Sonora in 1993¹. A reported sighting in north-central Durango in 1996 was followed up, but no birds were located², and a bird was reported in November 2005 in the Barrancas-Divisadero region of Barranca del Cobre, Chihuahua, but subsequent searches have found neither Imperial Woodpeckers, nor appropriate habitat or recent local knowledge of the species, within a 50 km radius of the locality³. There are now no un-surveyed old-growth remnants that are large enough for a breeding territory⁵. In March 2010, the location of the 1956 record in Durango was checked, but no evidence of the species was found, and interviews suggest that the species disappeared from the area in 1956-1960⁶. Even if a few individuals persist, extensive habitat fragmentation and continued hunting pressure from rural people has made extinction virtually inevitable¹.
Countries:	Possibly extinct: Mexico
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Any remaining population is assumed to be tiny based on the lack of confirmed records since 1956, and analyses of remaining habitat indicate that no tracts remain which are large enough to support the species.

Population:

Any remaining population is assumed to be tiny based on the lack of confirmed records since 1956, and analyses of remaining habitat indicate that no tracts remain which are large enough to support the species.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It requires extensive areas (26 km² per pair) of continuous open pine forest on relatively flat plateaus with large numbers of snags for foraging and nesting¹. Most records are from elevations of 1,920-3,050 m, but there are records as low as 1,675 m. There are many reports of more than four individuals, and this grouping behaviour may be related to its foraging specialisation¹. The main food source, beetle larvae in snags, is probably patchily distributed and peaks within a short period of time¹. Consequently, feeding-sites are probably best exploited by "nomadic" groups¹. If it operated in groups of seven or eight individuals, the minimum area of old-growth forest for a group would have been 98 km² ¹. Breeding has been recorded between February and June, and probably 1-4 eggs are laid¹.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

It requires extensive areas (26 km² per pair) of continuous open pine forest on relatively flat plateaus with large numbers of snags for foraging and nesting¹. Most records are from elevations of 1,920-3,050 m, but there are records as low as 1,675 m. There are many reports of more than four individuals, and this grouping behaviour may be related to its foraging specialisation¹. The main food source, beetle larvae in snags, is probably patchily distributed and peaks within a short period of time¹. Consequently, feeding-sites are probably best exploited by "nomadic" groups¹. If it operated in groups of seven or eight individuals, the minimum area of old-growth forest for a group would have been 98 km² ¹. Breeding has been recorded between February and June, and probably 1-4 eggs are laid¹.

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The chief threats are the combined and interconnected impacts of hunting and habitat loss¹. It has been hunted for fun, food and supposed medicinal purposes over a long period of time. The expansion of lumber operations into remote parts of the sierra opened up areas for settlement (and hunters) in the early 1950s. Although over-hunting probably precipitated the initial decline, this was compounded by the widespread removal of dead pines for pulp and mature pines for timber. By 1996, only 22 km² of suitable breeding habitat remained and even the area from where the pair were reported in 1993 had been logged¹. The species's social nature made it particularly susceptible to both types of threat; it frequently occurred in groups of four to eight (sometimes up to 20) individuals and therefore required large tracts of forest and was easily exploited by hunters⁴.

Major Threat(s):

The chief threats are the combined and interconnected impacts of hunting and habitat loss¹. It has been hunted for fun, food and supposed medicinal purposes over a long period of time. The expansion of lumber operations into remote parts of the sierra opened up areas for settlement (and hunters) in the early 1950s. Although over-hunting probably precipitated the initial decline, this was compounded by the widespread removal of dead pines for pulp and mature pines for timber. By 1996, only 22 km² of suitable breeding habitat remained and even the area from where the pair were reported in 1993 had been logged¹. The species's social nature made it particularly susceptible to both types of threat; it frequently occurred in groups of four to eight (sometimes up to 20) individuals and therefore required large tracts of forest and was easily exploited by hunters⁴.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway CITES Appendix I. A number of specific searches have been undertaken since the 1960s, including an extensive 11 month search in 1994-1995¹. There are no confirmed records from protected areas. Searches are ongoing and anecdotal reports are regularly pursued. The species's range and potential habitat fragments have been comprehensively mapped, and identified areas thoroughly explored. Conservation Actions Proposed Prepare to follow-up any further local reports. Continue searching areas of old-growth forest in the former range, especially in small patches now surrounded by managed forest.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix I. A number of specific searches have been undertaken since the 1960s, including an extensive 11 month search in 1994-1995¹. There are no confirmed records from protected areas. Searches are ongoing and anecdotal reports are regularly pursued. The species's range and potential habitat fragments have been comprehensively mapped, and identified areas thoroughly explored.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Prepare to follow-up any further local reports. Continue searching areas of old-growth forest in the former range, especially in small patches now surrounded by managed forest.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2010. Campephilus imperialis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2012.
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