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1) The Ivory-bill Researchers Forum, where at least a few searchers, as well as other interested parties hang out, is funded for another year.
(p.s… if you had given up on it during the glitchy phase where it wasn’t loading properly for some of us, it seems to work fine now):
2) I didn’t watch the recent “Extinct or Alive” episode searching for the IBWO in Louisiana — will view it if/when it shows up on the Web/YouTube, but haven’t seen any particularly positive reviews of it from those who did view.
3) With leaves off the trees, we’re into some prime search months now, but haven’t heard anything new from “Project Principalis” in Louisiana of late:
4) If you can stomach Facebook and allowing (demonic???) Mark Zuckerberg to control your life, the long-running “Ivory-billed Woodpecker Re-discovered” group can be worth following:
Miscellaneous folks sometimes cite sightings/encounters with IBWOs, occasionally recent but more often in the distant past. Most of the claims aren’t terribly detailed or convincing or followed up on, but here’s an example of one (from E. Texas) with at least a bit more specifics from the ‘early 2000s’:
Lastly, because of some recent discussion over there I just want to stress again (talked about a lot previously) that some research argues that the Ivory-bill in early North America was likely a species of rich upland (largely pine) forests, NOT of bottomland or swamp areas. Early and rapid decimation of upland forests by white settlers may have pushed the bird into bottomland areas where it had to re-adapt while facing more competition with Pileateds, and also succumbing to hunters. In short, the long-held presumption that the species requires first-growth hardwood forest to survive may have no real basis; even possible the species was never well-adapted to bottomland swamps -- it may only require dead-and-dying trees (for food) and large living ones (for habitat)... and safety from humans.
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