US says goodbye to great ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species

The US environmental authorities have declared 22 animal species and one plant species extinct. The great ivory-billed woodpecker is on the list. Only 11 species have previously been removed from the Endangered Species Act.

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The US environmental authorities declared 23 species extinct for good on Wednesday. The list includes the great ivory-billed woodpecker, one of the most evocative American birds. The last confirmed sighting of the bird dates back to 1944. For years it was one of the most sought after birds by bird watchers. It is sometimes popularly referred to as the ‘Lord God Bird’, after the cry that observers would have uttered when they saw it. It even inspired folk singer Sufjan Stevens to a song.

Another notable bird, Bachman’s warbler, has also been declared extinct by the federal wildlife management agency Fish and Wildlife Service. The songbird with distinctive yellow plumage migrated from the southwestern US to Cuba. Scientists have given up hope of ever seeing a living specimen.

Under the Endangered Species Act, endangered species are listed to protect their habitat. Previously, only eleven species were removed due to extinction. When the law was passed in 1973, the great ivory-billed woodpecker was one of the mascots of lobbying. The bird has been endangered since 1890, after forest clearing threatened the habitat and the woodpecker became popular with private collectors and hatters.

Biologist in tears

Biologist Amy Trahan calls the inclusion of the great ivory-billed woodpecker in the list of “extinct animals” one of “the most difficult moments of her career.” “Nobody wants to do something like that,” she told the newspaper The Washington Post. According to the newspaper, the biologist could barely hold back her tears in the Zoom conversation.

In total there are eleven birds on the list. Two freshwater fish, a bat, eight mussel species and a plant will never be seen again.

Climate warming

This “underlines how human activities can lead to species decline and extinction by contributing to habitat loss, overexploitation and the introduction of invasive species and diseases,” the statement said. The US environmental authorities expect that climate change will only exacerbate these threats.

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