This is the ivory-billed woodpecker, Campephilus principalis.

This audio was recorded on the 9th and 14th of April 1935 by Cornell University ornithology professors Arthur Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg, in the Singer Tract.

The ivory-billed woodpecker hasn’t been officially sighted since 1944, and is probably extinct, although many believe a small population could still exist somewhere in the swampy forests of south-eastern North America.

Because of its specialised feeding requirements, the ivory-billed woodpecker existed naturally at very low population densities, with an area of perhaps around 25 square kilometers required per pair. The species fed on beetle larvae living inside dead and rotting timber - one decaying tree would provide food for a pair of birds for a few weeks. After the food supply in the tree was exhausted, they would move in search of another suitable location. A small group consisting of several pairs would therefore need a minimum of 100 square kilometers of undisturbed, mature forest to be able to survive.

Intensive logging of the area from the late 19th century onwards, driven by the construction requirements of rapid urbanisation, left the formerly vast habitat of the ivory-billed woodpecker fragmented and greatly reduced. By the early 20th century, the bird was thought to be nearing extinction, which only served to drive demand for taxidermied specimens.

In 1924, a pair of birds was found by Arthur Allen, one of the recordists of this audio, and his wife Elsa, near Taylor Creek. A taxidermist heard of the find, and shot both birds while the couple were briefly away from the site.

In 1932, a sizeable population was rumoured to exist in the Singer Tract, a parcel of land along the Tensas River, around 300 square kilometers in size, which was owned by the Singer Sewing Machine Company. At the time, it was the largest remaining piece of virgin forest in the region.

Arthur Allen, along with his colleague Peter Kellogg, decided to travel to the Singer Tract to investigate the rumour, with the goal of making audio and video recordings of this vanishing bird. After three days of searching in the swamp, they had success, finding a pair nesting in a red maple.

Their recording equipment was transported to the site on a wagon by mule - the area was too swampy for cars or trucks. Tape recorders had not yet been invented. What you can now hear was originally documented by Allen and Kellogg using the movie-tone sound system. This was an optical process of recording audio. It worked by converting vibrations into electrical impulses, and then light, of varying intensity, which was captured on motion-picture film. After the film was developed, the process would be reversed, converting the light images back into electrical impulses, which were then converted back into sound.

Their work with the ivory-billed woodpecker was one of the first recordings made of animal vocalisations. Their collection of animal recordings at Cornell University eventually became what is now known as the Macaulay Library. This library was one source for the many bird sounds you hear in this exhibition.

In 1937, the Singer Company sold the logging rights for the land to the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, and logging began in 1938.
In April 1944, the last ivory-billed woodpecker in the SIinger Tract was observed, a female in a small patch of uncut timber, surrounded on all sides by razed forest. This was the last confirmed sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

In the meantime, the Singer Tract has been largely reforested and is now part of the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge, in the hope of the ivory-billed woodpecker’s return.