Ivory-billed woodpecker among 23 species declared extinct in the US

An ivory-billed woodpecker specimen on a display at the California Academy of Sciences (Haven Daley/AP)

Death’s come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species on the US government’s latest list of extinct species.

It is a rare move for wildlife officials to give up hope on a plant or animal, but government scientists say they have exhausted to find the 23 that made the list.