Search Efforts for Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in South Carolina

Abstract

Following the reported rediscovery of Campephilus principalis (Ivory-billed Woodpecker) in Arkansas, we initiated searches in South Carolina in February 2006, with additional searches in the winter and spring of 2006–2007 and 2007–2008, concentrating in the Congaree, Santee, and Pee Dee river basins. We accrued a cumulative total of 8893 survey hours. We found suggestive evidence in the form of visual and acoustic encounters, but failed to document conclusive evidence. Based on our search results, we believe it is unlikely that a population of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers persists in Congaree National Park and found limited evidence for their presence on other public lands in South Carolina. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that a small, nomadic population persists in the state.