Priorities for Future Research

The priorities for future research with Ivory-billed Woodpeckers should include: (1) documenting any existing living birds and unobtrusively quantifying their interactions with the biotic and abiotic components of their ecosystem; (2) continuing efforts to identify and inventory existing specimens, including those associated with Native American artifacts; (3) maximizing efforts to link specimens with data; and (4) retrieving and archiving DNA for the species. Additional efforts should include use of molecular techniques to better understand relationships among Campephilus woodpeckers, especially between the Ivory-billed and Imperial woodpeckers, and between U.S. and Cuban populations of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.