Imperial Woodpecker, Close Up

Originally posted  8/9/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

I just came across this specimen photo, a close up of a female Imperial Woodpecker head from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and shared with us here by Dysmorodrepanis through Wikimedia Commons.  The largest of all the woodpeckers, the bird you see here is a very old specimen, but spectacular nonetheless.  How much more spectacular would it be to see it in action, live in a pine forest in Mexico today?

Here's a link to a related article from 2003 about a search for the Imperial Woodpecker by BirdLife International that's an interesting read:

Imperial Woodpecker story

Also, here is a more recent post regarding a report of an Imperial Woodpecker sighting in the Copper Canyon in Mexico:

Imperial Woodpecker Reported in Mexico