Is an animal or bird extinct if no one has seen it in almost 80 years?Or is it just good at hiding from those looking for it?That is a question the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to answer about a large bird called the ivory-billed woodpecker.No one has seen it since 1944.The woodpecker has been on the critically endangered list for a number of years.Right now, however, the Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to decide if it is no longer living.If it is considered extinct, it would no longer be protected by the U.S. government.The bird is one of the largest woodpeckers.It once lived in the old forests in the southern U.S.However, the wood cutting industry destroyed the bird’s habitat, or living place.Some birdwatchers believe the birds still live deep in the remaining forests and swamps in the American south.Those places are hard to reach.And no one has seen the ivory-billed woodpecker in nearly 80 years.
