The Search Continues

For the elusive Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Naturalists have failed to deliver the goods, so technology has taken over.

Scientists from the Univ. of California-Berkley and Texas A & M have developed a high tech "robot" Camera which is to be installed on the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas where the woodpecker was believed to have been sighted. Nothing was said about the intensity of the camera placement. Allegedly, the camera can distinguish between birds and other flying objects.

One would wonder about the source of funds with which to finance such a venture. Sounds a little like grasping at straws which do not exist.

Why do they not let the poor woodpecker rest in peace.

Because there is very good evidence that the IBW still exists. Very experienced ornithologists have actually seen the bird. Have you seen the video of it? I have, and I think it's pretty neat that a bird thought extinct for decades still exists.

Also, a lot of the funds are coming from private, conservation-minded individuals. Lots of older, rich folk like birds.

IF and only IF there are any left, they would be much better off bein` left alone and undisturbed.

shaggybill said:

"Because there is very good evidence that the IBW still exists. Very experienced ornithologists have actually seen the bird. Have you seen the video of it? I have, and I think it's pretty neat that a bird thought extinct for decades still exists".

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Here is the scenario: Sixty years pass with no sightings of the bird. In 2004 a kayaker who just happened to have a video camera spots and attempts to video the bird. All that has been declared concerning its existence has been based on this one sighting.

"Very experience Ornithologists" have examined the video and have declared that it could "possibly" be an Ivory Billed. Other very experienced Ornithologists have looked at the video and have declared that it is "too shakey, too grainy, and of generally poor quality as to render it inconclusive, and that it could easily be a Pileated Woodpecker.

There have been no further sightings in the past two years even though searches for it have been continuous.

I wish them success in their search, but I am not optomistic.

I wish. I think its to late for our old friend. We had them down the road in 1935 but lost them to the lake. They were in Cuba in the 80's. The last American birds probably lived and died in the Singer Tract in Louisiana. They are too demanding of a creature to live with something as demanding as us. I believe I read that in the home range of one pair of IBWs as many as 36 pairs of pileated and 100-120 red bellieds could live. Thats pretty darned big.

nicodemus said:

IF and only IF there are any left, they would be much better off bein` left alone and undisturbed.

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You hit it square on the head. If they do find one they'll aggravate it to the point that it will want to be extinct.

Vernon Holt said:

Here is the scenario: Sixty years pass with no sightings of the bird. In 2004 a kayaker who just happened to have a video camera spots and attempts to video the bird. All that has been declared concerning its existence has been based on this one sighting.

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This is mostly true, but not totally accurate. Some of the most highly regarded ornithologists at Cornell University have seen the bird themselves but didn't get photograpic proof.

"Very experience Ornithologists" have examined the video and have declared that it could "possibly" be an Ivory Billed. Other very experienced Ornithologists have looked at the video and have declared that it is "too shakey, too grainy, and of generally poor quality as to render it inconclusive, and that it could easily be a Pileated Woodpecker.

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Here's something interesting to see. Look at the IveryBilled ID marks on these pictures from Cornell's website.



Here's the Pileated.


Now, watch this video. I just don't see how that bird could be anything BUT a Ivory-Billed woodpecker.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1114103/DC1 The movie is at the bottom of the page, called Movie S1.

There have been no further sightings in the past two years even though searches for it have been continuous.

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http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/evidence/sevenSightings

Something else that's really cool after you've seen the video is to watch the re-enactments of the video using wooden models of both the Pileated and the Ivory-Billed. It seems a little ridiculous, but when you watch it, you see how much it points toward that bird being an IBW.

Here's a link to it.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/evidence/segments/resultsunderwing#fg

I even read a report that they are thought to live on the Choctawhatchee River in NW FL. There have been potential "sightings" and there is enough habitat.

I'll bet they tasted good.
Sorry, Four years of Biology and 14yrs of sniffing paints,epoxies,and teak dust lead me to conclude: Step by step framing clearly shows the black band at the aft edge of the wing...Pileated.
I wonder how they taste?
cw

They are supposed to tast ok. I heard of hunters shooting them when in need of food. They mainly eat the grubs of wood boring beatles so I imagine they would taste alright. People of been killing them for ever. Indians used to trade the bills and thought very highly of them.

I'll bet they tasted good.

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Not as good as whooping crane, but much better than spotted owl.