Its habitat is thick hardwood swamps, pine forest with large amount of dead and decaying trees in Southern United States. They feed mainly on larvae of wood boring beetles.

‘The ivorybill’s power is legendary. In 1794, Alexander Wilson shot an ivorybill in North Carolina. The bird was only slightly injured and Wilson decided to keep it. He checked into a hotel and left the bird in his room to take care of his horse. When he returned less than an hour later, he found the bed covered large pieces of plaster, the lath was exposed for at least fifteen inches square, and a hole, large enough to admit a fist, opened to the weather boards.