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WEEKLY NEWS 3: Woodpecker Discovered Not Extinct

A breed of woodpecker thought to have gone extinct 60 years ago was discovered to be alive and well in Arkansas.

Evidence that the ivory-billed woodpecker still exists was based on eight independent sightings between 2004 and 2005. The confirmation of the bird’s existence was released in a journal on April 28, 2005.

The key evidence in the discovery was an April 25 video tape filmed by David Luneau. The tape showed a large woodpecker sitting on a tree and flying away as Luneau’s canoe approached the bird.

As a result of the sightings of this woodpecker breed, many conservation groups have joined forces to form the Big Woods Conservation Partnership. The purpose of this new partnership is to conserve 200,000 acres of forest habitat and rivers in the area during the next 10 years.

The ivory-billed woodpecker’s last confirmed sighting was 60 years ago. The bird was sighted in a Louisiana hardwood forest in the 1940s. The ivory-billed woodpecker is second in size to the extinct imperial woodpecker of Mexico, which was the largest woodpecker in the world when it was alive.

--Written by Leah Williams

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