A Cousin to the Ivorybill

Head of pale-billed woodpecker. Tikal, Guatemala.

When Jules and I were in Guatemala last month, we spent the final two days of our trip in Tikal, the famous Maya site where the pyramids are impressive and the birding is justifiably world famous. Among my quest birds on our trip was the pale-billed woodpecker, cousin to the ivory-billed woodpecker in the genus Campephilus. I figured that this might be as close as I would ever get to an ivory-billed woodpecker, though I hoped (and still do hope) to see a one someday.

In 2004 in Guatemala I had heard the distinctive double rap of the pale-billed, but no birds showed themselves. This year we were spending a lot more time in likely habitat, and several times our Guatemalan birding guides would point out the double-rap. My hopes were rising with each aural encounter.

Late on the afternoon of March 4, our first day at Tikal, we were looking across a large ravine toward Temple 5, scanning its shape for signs of an orange-breasted falcon nest, when three large birds flew across a clearing and into some gangly, tall trees. "Pale-billed woodpeckers!" Julie shouted and we all scrambled to gain better viewing angles. The light was low due to an oncoming thunderstorm, but occasional rays of sun forced their way through the darkening sky, illuminating the scene for us. I'll never forget the gleaming white bill and blindingly bright red crest on the first bird I located with my scope.

The three birds seemed to be associated with each other (perhaps a family group?) as they foraged and loafed. For the next 15 minutes we enjoyed leisurely looks at one or more of them and I did my best to capture their souls with my digiscoping set up.

Most of my pale-billed woodpecker shots came out like this: blurry images of busy birds.

To be standing there, in Tikal, with an ancient temple, old growth forest, and one of the most impressive and evocative birds in all of the Americas in one binocular field was nothing short of incredible. Julie and I kept saying "They look so much like ivorybills!"

This one is my favorite because of the crest. I've never seen a crest like this on a bird!

I shot and shot, getting mostly blurry images of moving birds, with perfectly in-focus branches and vegetation. The shooting conditions were tough. Even so, I could not help but think how great it would be to encounter an ivorybill (or three) in the same fashion, under similar conditions. Perhaps one day....

Here, for your viewing pleasure are the least objectionable of my pale-billed woodpecker shots. I took them through a Swarovski 65 AT spotting scope with a 20x to 60x zoom lens. My camera was (and still is a Canon Powershot A520 (4 megapixels) attached with a Canon LA-DC52F extender and a Swarovski DCA (digital camera adapter).

Check out the belly stripes and the bird's regal eye.

Not very sharp, but I love the lines in this photo. And that beautiful bill.

I must tip my cap to Clay Taylor of Swarovski Optik, North America for his helpful and sage guidance as I re-entered the digiscoping realm. My experience in Guatemala would have been so much less enjoyable if I had not been geared-up for digiscoping. Thanks Clay! You can check out some of Clay's own digiscoped images here.

And we also owe a debt of gratitude to Marco Centeno and Hector Castaneda for traveling to Tikal with us, and sharing their vast birding and nature knowledge. Gracias por los aves y las bromas, amigos!

This shot shows how massive the feet are on these woodpeckers.
Look how it's grasping the tree, and the spread of those toes!
You know what they say about big feet!