Campephilus imperialis (Imperial Woodpecker)

[Melanie]

A new book about the Imperial Woodpecker

imperial-dreams.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/imperial-dreams-sneak-peek.html

[argentavis]

Pair on display in St Petersburg Zoological Museum. Photo made by my friend Maria

[surroundx]

Mlíkovský, Jiří. (2012). Extinct and nearly extinct birds in the collections of the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic. Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series 181(9): 95-123. [automatic download]

[Melanie]

The famous William Rhein film about the Imperial Woodpecker in Durango, Mexico is now published with a narration by Rhein.

[Melanie]

In the book The Annihilation of Nature by Gerardo Ceballos and Paul Ehrlich (August 2015) is a previously unknown photograph of an Imperial Woodpecker.

books.google.co.uk/books?id=lWBjCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=gerardo+ceballos+paul+ehrlich&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiT156XwdTLAhXGnBoKHTbfB7MQ6AEIHzAA#v=onepage&q=imperial&f=false

see page 36

[Melanie]

Some sad photographes of a dead Imperial woodpecker used as an amulet

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157244700210122&set=oa.1272902372734957&type=3&theater

[surroundx]

Anmarkrud, Jarl Andreas and Lifjeld, Jan T. (In Press, 2016). Complete mitochondrial genomes of eleven extinct or possibly extinct bird species. Molecular Ecology Resources. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12600 [Abstract]

[Melanie]

The conundrum of an overlooked skeleton referable to Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis in the collection of the Natural History Museum at Tring

Abstract

The discovery of an overlooked skeleton of Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis in the bird collection of the Natural History Museum at Tring (NHMUK) is documented, one of very few known to exist worldwide of this almost certainly extinct species. We present evidence that, on balance of probabilities, it is one of two collected by Alphonse Forrer in 1882 near the settlement of La Ciudad in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Durango, western Mexico; the whereabouts of the other, which did not come to NHMUK, appears currently unknown. During research into the NHMUK specimen, we demonstrated that the supposed Imperial Woodpecker skull held in the collection of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, must in fact be that of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker C. principalis.

bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-british-ornithologists-club/volume-141/issue-1/bboc.v141i1.2021.a7/The-conundrum-of-an-overlooked-skeleton-referable-to-Imperial-Woodpecker/10.25226/bboc.v141i1.2021.a7.full

[Sebbe]

Additions and updates to the list of specimens of Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis (Gould, 1832), including genetic analysis of a putative clutch of eggs.

We present an addendum to the list of known specimens of Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis published by Brown & Clark in 2009. The addendum adds a total of 31 specimens, comprising 15 mounts, ten study skins, three skeletons, two skulls and one not extant specimen, bringing the total number to 189 specimens. It also offers clarification of some of the records presented in Brown & Clark, as well as revisions of several specimens previously registered as C. imperialis but later found to be of other species. The latter includes a putative clutch of Imperial Woodpecker eggs, which was found via genetic analysis to belong to Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia.

bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-british-ornithologists-club/volume-142/issue-4/bboc.v142i4.2022.a9/Additions-and-updates-to-the-list-of-specimens-of-Imperial/10.25226/bboc.v142i4.2022.a9.full

[Sebbe]

Extinct and endangered (‘E&E’) birds in the ornithological collection of Le Beffroi Musée Boucher de Perthes-Manessier, Abbeville, France.

IMPERIAL WOODPECKER Campephilus imperialis EDGE score: 4.22
Picus imperialis Gould, 1832
2021.0.1430—mount, adult male (Fig. 7). Label (initially on the right leg) reads ‘Dryocopus imperialis (Gould) / Amer. Sept.’

Remarks.—Endemic to the highlands of western Mexico. Last confirmed observation in 1956 (Hume 2017). Number of mature individuals estimated at 1–49; population trend unknown. Work by Brown & Clark (2009) and, more recently, by Leese et al. (2022) yielded a total of 189 specimens in museums worldwide, of which 40 are complete mounts or skins, and the majority are incomplete or partial skins and skeletons. The Abbeville specimen is thus the 41st complete specimen. VertNet, GBIF, Jouanin (1962) and Besson & Fuchs (2019) all suggest that the specimen in Abbeville is the only one in France. The original label mentions the genus Dryocopus. As this species was not transferred to Campephilus until 1849, although Gould described it in Picus, this suggests the label can be dated prior to 1849. Pre-1860 specimens are rare in collections and involve only the six syntypes identified by Prŷs-Jones (2011) and the four specimens attributed to the Rivoli collection, collected in 1836, and now at ANSP (K. Clark in litt. 2024). Therefore, it is possible that this specimen is a seventh syntype or that it emanates from the Massena collection14.

bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-british-ornithologists-club/volume-144/issue-3/bboc.v144i3.2024.a6/Extinct-and-endangered-EE-birds-in-the-ornithological-collection-of/10.25226/bboc.v144i3.2024.a6.full#bibr86