Ivory-billed Woodpeckers by Joseph Bartholomew Kidd After John James Audubon

 

Recently, I decided to try and find a portrait of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers by John James Audubon that I recalled seeing on display in one of the exhibit halls at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City a long time ago. I had no luck finding it again at the museum during periodic visits. However, it turned out that it was easy to locate the portrait online. When I did so, I learned that this curiosity was actually an oil on canvas creation painted by Joseph Bartholomew Kidd around the year 1830 that was fashioned after Audubon's watercolor. The painting is currently on display in Gallery 774 at the museum, a gallery which you can surely find by asking one of the museum personnel for its location.

The museum has information on this piece online, and here is an excerpt:

Audubon made his watercolor of the ivory-bill...before 1826, and commissioned Kidd to copy it and other of his bird subjects in oil for display in a traveling exhibition Audubon planned but never realized. The copyist added the landscape background.

Click here to read more about this painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's site.

Illustration of male Powerful and Crimson-bellied Woodpeckers by George F. Sandström

Illustration by George F. Sandström, © Delaware Museum of Natural History

Continuing with the 6th and final entry in this series, here is a splendid illustration by George F. Sandström which appears on Plate 79 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982). The bird at the upper left of the illustration is a male Powerful Woodpecker, and a male Crimson-bellied Woodpecker appears to the right. 

These two bird species of humid, wet forests are sympatric, occurring together in Columbia, Ecuador and Peru. The Crimson-bellied Woodpecker's range also extends into parts of Panama. The dark bill on these two species is a notable field mark, in contrast to the pale or ivory colored bills that appear in several other species within the same genus.

This illustration is posted here pursuant to permission obtained from the publisher.

Illustration of male Red-necked and Robust Woodpeckers by George F. Sandström

Illustration by George F. Sandström, © Delaware Museum of Natural History

Continuing with the 5th entry in this series, here is a beautiful illustration by George F. Sandström which appears on Plate 80 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982). The bird at the upper portion of the illustration is a male Red-necked Woodpecker and a male Robust Woodpecker appears below.

You can find a detailed profile that I authored of the Red-necked Woodpecker at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World site at this link:

Red-necked Woodpecker

 This illustration is posted here pursuant to permission obtained from the publisher.

Three Species of Campephilus Woodpeckers - Crimson-crested, Guayaquil, and Pale-billed Woodpeckers by George F. Sandström

Illustration by George F. Sandström, © Delaware Museum of Natural History

Enjoy this remarkable illustration by George F. Sandström of three species of woodpeckers within the Campephilus genus which appears on Plate 81 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982). The two birds at the upper portion of the illustration are a male Crimson-crested Woodpecker (on the left) and a female Crimson-crested Woodpecker (n the right). The male of this species looks very similar to the two species depicted at the bottom of the illustration - a male Pale-billed Woodpecker (on the left) and a male Guayaquil Woodpecker.

You can find detailed profiles of two of the three species at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World site at these links:

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

Pale-billed Woodpecker

 This illustration is posted here pursuant to permission obtained from the publisher.

Illustration of female Magellanic and Cream-backed Woodpeckers by George F. Sanström

Illustration by George F. Sandström, © Delaware Museum of Natural History

Here is another splendid illustration by George F. Sandström of two woodpeckers within the Campephilus genus which appears on Plate 82 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982).  

On the left is a female Magellanic Woodpecker. And on the right is a female Cream-backed Woodpecker. It is a somewhat whimsical illustration because the ranges of these two species does not overlap so that you would never see them together in the wild. Here is the range info for each species from Woodpeckers of the World along with links to their range maps:

Magellanic Woodpecker - Found in temperate forests of southern South America from central eastern Chile and central western Argentina southward along the Andes Mountains and the Chilean lowlands to Tierra del Fuego. Habitat mature southern beech and southern beech-cypress forests from timberline to the coast wherever suitable habitat exists.

Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus)

Cream-backed Woodpecker - South-central South America from north-central Bolivia (Cochabamba) south through western and central Paraguay to La Rioja, Córdoba, and Entre Rios, Argentina, and to westernmost Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Its range includes all of the chaco (xeric) woodlands, including its extension toward Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, subtropical forests of Tucumán and La Rioja, and dry valleys of Bolivia to an elevation of at least 5600 feet (Chilon, Santa Cruz, near Cochabamba border).  

Cream-backed Woodpecker (Campephilus leucopogon)

 

This illustration is posted here pursuant to permission obtained from the publisher.

Illustration of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers by George F. Sandström

Illustration by George F. Sandström, © Delaware Museum of Natural History

Here is a seldom seen, beautiful illustration of a pair of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers that appears on Plate 83 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982).

The book is a comprehensive account of the 198 species in the Picidae family that Short recognized, and it includes a total of 101 plates by artist George F. Sandström that portray these species in their natural colors with exquisite details. As Dean Amadon wrote in the preface:

The success of artist George Sandström's labors will be evident to anyone who leafs through the plates. They permit an efficient comparison of woodpeckers, particularly of closely related species, often grouped on the same or in adjacent plates, from all quarters of the globe; they are an integral part of this treatise.

Plates 79 through 84 depict the 11 species within the Campephilus genus. Eventually, I will post all of the illustrations from those plates here, pursuant to permission obtained from the publisher.

Illustration of Imperial Woodpeckers by George F. Sandström

Illustration by George F. Sandström, © Delaware Museum of Natural History

It is my great pleasure to present you with this fantastic illustration of a pair of Imperial Woodpeckers that appears on Plate 84 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982).  

The book is a comprehensive account of the 198 species in the Picidae family that Short recognized, and it includes a total of 101 plates by artist George F. Sandström that portray these species in their natural colors with exquisite details. As Dean Amadon wrote in the preface:

The success of artist George Sandström's labors will be evident to anyone who leafs through the plates. They permit an efficient comparison of woodpeckers, particularly of closely related species, often grouped on the same or in adjacent plates, from all quarters of the globe; they are an integral part of this treatise.

Plates 79 through 84 depict the 11 species within the Campephilus genus. Eventually, I will post all of the illustrations from those plates here, pursuant to permission obtained from the publisher. It seemed fitting to start with the majestic Imperial Woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in the world!

Tim Gallagher has a blog devoted to his book on the Imperial Woodpecker here:

Imperial Dreams

SIB - Parques Nacionales - Sistema de Información sobre Biodiversidad

There are 4 species of Campephilus that are native to Argentina which contain interesting and detailed profiles (en Español) along with dramatic illustrations of each species, except the Robust Woodpecker, at the SIB - Parques Nacionales - Sistema de Información sobre Biodiversidad site.  Be a bit patient to allow this site to load.

In English and with their Spanish names, the four species of Campephilus at the SIB site are:

1. Crimson-crested Woodpecker     Carpintero garganta negra

          Carpintero grande

2. Cream-backed Woodpecker     Carpintero lomo blanco

3. Magellanic Woodpecker     Carpintero gigante     Carpintero negro patagónico

          Carpintero patagónico

4. Robust Woodpecker     Carpintero grande

Cream-backed Woodpeckers: A Closer Look

Originally posted 7/4/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

It's hard to convey the brilliance of the nearly 150-year old, hand-colored lithographs in Alfred Malherbe's Monographie des Picidées that one sees upon viewing the genuine article.  A closer look at the Cream-backed Woodpeckers depicted in Plate III (female, above and male, below) helps to reveal more of their fine detail.  My apologies if the occasional large-sized photos I post are less than ideal for your particular monitor.

The flight feather on the right belongs to the Robust Woodpecker.  See the full Plate III illustration for a comparison of Cream-backed and Robust Woodpecker flight feathers.

This illustration is within the public domain appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Mégapic de Boié, the Cream-backed Woodpecker

Originally posted 7/3/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Here's Plate III from Alfred Malherbe's Monographie des Picidées depicting the striking female Cream-backed Woodpecker on the left, the male bird on the right, and a pair of Robust Woodpeckers in the background.

Clicking on any of these illustrations will take you into my album of Malherbe's illustrations where you can download large-sized illustration files. The image above is within the public domain and it appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Crimson-bellied Woodpecker Illustration

Originally posted 12/14/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Here is a hand-colored lithograph depicting the very colorful Crimson-bellied Woodpecker in Plate IX by Delahaye from Alfred Malherbe's Monographie des picidées (1859-1862).  Figure 1 and 3 represent male birds and figure 2, the bird with the white band on its neck, is a female.  Over the past several months, I have been posting the plates from this monumental work which illustrate the eleven species of Campephilus woodpeckers, a task that is now complete with the posting of this ninth plate. 

The monograph contains large illustrations of both sexes of the 140 woodpecker species new to science at the time and reduced illustrations of the known species.  The birds depicted here in the left background are Orange-backed Woodpeckers.  Not within the Campephilus genus, the large Orange-backed Woodpecker (Reinwardtipicus validus) of South-east Asia is the sole member of its genus.  Along with the members of the Flameback or Chrysocolaptes genus, perhaps (based upon its appearance) it is one of the species that is more closely related to the Campephilus tribe than the other woodpeckers.   

See several photos of the Orange-backed Woodpecker on Flickr

I was able to photograph all 123 hand-colored lithographic plates from the Monographie des picidées.  Each plate contains beautiful and interesting illustrations.  I hope to make all of the plates available online in the future, though I am not sure when I will get to it.  In the meantime, please feel free to contact me if you're ever in need of the corresponding plate for a particular woodpecker species.

This image within the public domain appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Mégapic à Cou Rouge

Originally posted 6/6/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Marvelous hand-colored lithographs of each Campephilus woodpecker species appear in Alfred Malherbe's extraordinary Monographie des Picidées, a work that dates back to the early 1860s.  These along with many other illustrations depict the then known species of woodpeckers in a total of 123 fine, hand-colored lithographic plates by C.Delahaye, A. Mesnel and P.Oudart under the direction of Malherbe.  This one is a detail from Plate IX which is entitled Mégapic à Cou Rouge, the Crimson-bellied Woodpecker. 

What is an aficionado to do but spend an afternoon off visiting the rare book room at a local university to examine this epic tome and secure high quality images, as freely permitted at said institution, and then share them with you here at Campephilus Woodpeckers?  And so, I present you with just a bit of something to truly look forward to, if you enjoy this sort of fantastic imagery.

You can read more about Alfred Malherbe's magnificent work at this post. 

And, see this work's depiction of the largest woodpecker in the world right here.

The additional  Campephilus illustrations from Malherbe's work will be coming here soon!

This image within the public domain appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Crimson-bellied Woodpecker

Image in the public domain, courtesy of Cornell University Library

Digital Collections, Fuertes Illustration Collection at

http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/Fuertes2000/BirdView.asp?From=bbn&QY=w&Size=2&BirdID=1760

                              Context: Annotation: "Campephilus Peruvian Andes"

                              Date: 1911c.

                              Location: Rare and Manuscript Collections

                              Medium: Pencil;Watercolor

                              ID Number: 2662-800-0670 

                              Size: 9" x 5.75" 

                              Support: Paper

                             Type: Studies;Watercolors

                             Title: Crimson-bellied Woodpecker

Crimson-crested Woodpeckers

This beautiful illustration of a female Crimson-crested Woodpecker (upper left) and one male comes from the four-volume Monographie des picidées (1859-1862), French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe (1804 -1865) (or 1804-1866?).  I believe the bird on the lower left is a juvenile female.  Describing every known species of woodpecker, the monograph was printed in 100 (or 120?) copies and accompanied by hand-colored lithographs.  No surprise, the Wikipedia entry on Alfred Malherbe in French at this link contains more information than the English entry.

A bit more information about this work appears at Zoonomen.net at this link and also see a very detailed mention of it in The Ibis, A Magazine of General Ornithology, Vol. I, 1859
at this link.  (You'll want to search for "Malherbe" using your browser if you visit the above two pages).

As for the price of Malherbe's magnificent work, a Google books scan of American Book-Prices Current, Volume 13 lists the 4 volumes with 121 colored plates at a mere $46.

Flash forward to November 11, 1992 and the work sold for $12,482 at Christie's, according to this link here!

The Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Light and Dark-billed

Originally posted 8/7/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

I hope that you are enjoying whatever season it happens to be wherever you are in the world. It's been quite a while since my last post because I've been on vacation in northwestern Spain and Portugal, where I was hoping to see the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and the Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis), each for the first time.

Fortunately, I found them in Galicia, Spain (GSWO, in a recently burned section of a pine forest) and in Ponte de Lima, Portugal (GRWO, in a riparian forest), both in the very early morning hours. I was thrilled to see them, though my photos of the birds are nothing special.

You can see super photos and read numerous posts on both birds over at Woodpeckers of Europe at these links:

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Now, back to those woodpecker's larger relatives, within the Campephilus genus, here are two illustrations for you.

Light bill, dark bill.  These illustrations from Alfred Mahlerbe's Monographie des Picidées both depict the Crimson-crested Woodpecker (so far as I can tell!).  The nominate species with the greyish-ivory to almost white bill appears above, and it has a range in South America east of the Andes mountains, south to Argentina and Brazil.  A subspecies is illustrated below, and it is named after Malherbe.  It has a dark grey to brown-grey bill and ranges from western Panama to north and west Columbia.

These illustrations are within the public domain and appear here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York. 

Reference

- Woodpeckers: A Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World by H. Winkler, D. A. Christie & D. Nurney

Guayaquil & Red-necked Woodpecker Illustration

Originally posted 11/24/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

The large bird depicted in this hand-colored lithograph by Delahaye appears in Alfred Malherbe's Monographie des picidées (1859-1862).  It is a Guayaquil Woodpecker, listed here with its old name Mégapic de Sclater.  Curiously, the sex of the bird is noted as male, and that appears to be an error.  The male Guayaquil Woodpecker's head is entirely red, but for a small black and white patch below its ear.   The female Guayaquil Woodpecker possesses a white band extending from the base of its bill to its white neck stripe.

The two pairs of birds in this illustration are two subspecies of the Red-necked Woodpecker.  While most of the illustrations in this work are excellent, these do not quite capture the splendid appearance of this bird.  It must have proved very challenging to draw these relatively large birds to such a small scale!

This image within the public domain appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Le Mégapic-Impérial et Le Mégapic à Bec d’Ivoire

Originally posted  2/26/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Illustration courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections,

Cornell University Libraries.

   http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ornithology/guide/hillguide16.htm

The magnificent Imperial Woodpecker is depicted in this hand-colored lithograph from French naturalist Alfred Malherbe's four-volume work, Monographie des picidées (1859-1862).  There is another illustration and more information about the work available here at this link.

The largest woodpecker in the world, the female Imperial Woodpecker is shown in full with her tongue extended, contrasted with the male whose crest is red and black.  In the background, male and female Ivory-billed Woodpeckers are depicted in what certainly appears to be an adaptation of John James Audubon's painting of the birds in 1826.

Imperial Woodpeckers

This rather large image befits the Imperial Woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in the world.  According to Wikimedia Commons, this chromolithograph appeared in The Auk in 1898, and the artist was John Livzey Ridgway (1859-1947) an American illustrator and brother of ornithologist Robert Ridgway.  Public domain image.

EXTINTOS!

Originally posted 6/17/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

EXTINTOS!!!, a photo by telly gacitúa on Flickr.

Sad but true, as the comments that accompany this beautiful image posted here under Creative Commons license note:

El carpintero Imperial, el zorro Guará, el Tilacino, el pájaro Dodó, el Sapo Dorado de Monteverde, el Bilby Menor, el ciervo de Schomburgk, el Alca Gigante, el Tigre de Java, el Baiji o delfín de río chino, el Barbus Microbarbis y la orquídea extinta.
Llegaron los humanos y los mataron a todos!!!!!

The Imperial Woodpecker, Fox Den, the Thylacine, Dodo bird, the Golden Toad of Monteverde, the Bilby Minor Schomburgk Deer, the Great Auk, the Tiger of Java, the Baiji or Chinese River Dolphin, the Barbus Microbarbis and orchid extinct.
humans came and killed them all !!!!!

La Tête et Le Pied du Megapicus Imperialis

Originally posted 6/13/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this illustration of the head and foot of an Imperial Woodpecker, accompanied by the same for the Black Woodpecker of Europe (Dryocopus martius) for comparative purposes in the preface of Alfred Malherbe's Monographie des Picidées.  The image above is within the public domain and it appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

The Imperial Woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in the world, is the subject of an earlier post here at Campephilus Woodpeckers and, appropriately, the subject of the first plate within Monographie des Picidées:

While we're on the topic, recently Mark Michaels made the following post at the Ivory-bill Researchers Forum that will lead you to a rarely seen still from a video of the Imperial Woodpecker that belongs to Cornell University.  He wrote:

This recent publication from Partners in Flight includes a still from the footage of the Imperial Woodpecker on page 11. It should have some relevance for IBWO searchers. Another still appears in Snyder's Travails of Two Woodpeckers, but as far as I know this is the first time any of the images has appeared online.

Find the publication here at this link.

Also, here is a link to the organization's website:  http://www.savingoursharedbirds.org/

To my knowledge, this is the sole imagery available of the Imperial Woodpecker aside from illustrations and images of museum specimens, so it's quite a wonder!