Ivory-billed Woodcreeper

How to find it

Look in the dry forest and streamside forest of the Pacific northwest, because that is where the species is limited in Costa Rica. It is mostly seen high above the ground, so scan the upper levels for a strong, straight, pale bill. Listen for the laughing whinny that falls in pitch, and check mixed-species flocks in the canopy. Horizontes, a forest restoration project just south of Santa Rosa National Park, produced a couple on a guided day visit and is easy to visit as a day trip. Birders have also recorded it near Rincón de la Vieja National Park, in the dry forest of Guanacaste, during a Global Big Day count.

How to recognise it

This is a fairly large woodcreeper, about 24 cm long.

Look for these marks:

- a long, strong, straight bill that is clearly pale, though not truly ivory

- bold streaking on the head, back and underparts

- chestnut rump, tail and wings

Focus on the head and the bill. The rusty tail and wings are shared by nearly all woodcreepers, so they will not help you separate it. The streaking and the pale bill give it a more contrasting pattern than the Cocoa Woodcreeper that lives in the same forest.

What it sounds like

Recording: Emerson Harman, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

You will usually find it alone or in pairs, and it may join mixed-species flocks in the canopy. Across its wider range it often joins such flocks and follows army ant swarms, though ant following is more typical on the Atlantic slope, where the ants are more common.

It feeds mainly on larger trunks, often probing into bromeliads, and moves methodically.

Where it lives

It lives in the canopy and edges of evergreen forest with few epiphytes, and is less frequent in deciduous forest and gallery forest.

On the Pacific slope it is locally common at 400 to 900 m, in the Guanacaste mountain range and the higher hills of the Nicoya Peninsula. In the lowlands it is uncommon and found toward the north, in Santa Rosa National Park, and it rarely reaches Palo Verde National Park. On the Caribbean side it is uncommon and local along the Nicaraguan border, east of Los Chiles.

When to see it

For Horizontes, where the species was found, the dry season is the best time to visit, as some roads may be impassable in the wet season.

Similar birds

The Cocoa Woodcreeper lives alongside it but is smaller, usually with a darker bill and fainter streaks on the back. The Ivory-billed is larger, with a more contrasting pattern, a pale bill and a different voice. Look for a paler head and a pale bill.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the bird is called Trepador Piquiclaro. Other Spanish names are trepatroncos picomarfil, trepatroncos gorgipálido and trepatroncos bigotudo, the last two used in Mexico.

Status and conservation

Resident (R) on the AOCR list, rated Least Concern by the IUCN and considered fairly uncommon in Costa Rica.

Photography tips

Woodcreepers flit quickly between shady spots, so views are brief. Watch for the habit of jabbing the bill into bromeliad clumps and tugging out dead leaves, which gives you a moment to focus.