-- Final Cornell 2005-6 Summary --

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Cornell's final summary report of their 2005-6 search season in AR. is finally available (pdf) here:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/current0607/FinalReportIVBWOO.pdf

Haven't finished reading it yet... may or may not have more to say about it in days ahead. For now I'll just say, better late than never...
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-- The "60 Year" Blip --

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I still hear from folks who consider the 60-year lapse in confirmed Ivory-bill presence some sort of significant number, so I'll repeat:

1. There have been 100's of reports/claims of Ivory-bills over those years. If you choose not to believe any of them, that's YOUR choice, but don't pretend 60 years have passed with no reports of Ivory-bills.

2. EVEN if we had gone 60 years without a single IBWO claim, how many times need I say it --- 60 years is NOT necessarily a meaningful period of time in the natural history of a species; it ISN'T, it's NOT, it never has been... It is simply naive, shallow, and hubris-bound to believe that something can't exist just because it's gone unseen by human eyes for 60 years. THIS is science based on FAITH (in human capability; usually considered imperfect) and nothing more.

3. The efforts to find Ivory-bills the last 60 years have been puny --- mostly one or two-man searches for a weekend or a week in very limited areas prior to year 2000. The much-vaunted LSU/Pearl search (2002, almost 3 FULL YEARS after Kulivan's claim) was still but a small team effort for a month in one locale of one state of one area of the Southeast. Last year's Cornell search, another 5 mos. or so in one area. If you string all the serious searches of the last 60 years together end-to-end what do you have, 3, maybe 4 years worth of well-organized meaningful searching in a few parts of a vast amount of difficult habitat... and THIS is s'posed to be definitive? Thankfully, such laxity doesn't hold forth in the physical and engineering sciences; only in biology or medicine would such definitive statements arise from such limited data.

John Fitzpatrick of Cornell says, "Searching for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has finally blossomed into a long-overdue, systematic national effort spanning all the big forests of the Southeast where the species could persist." And Ron Rohrbaugh adds, "We'll never know if ivory-bills persist outside of Arkansas unless we undertake systematic searches of key areas, a task that should have been done decades ago." Ahhh yes, looking for a bird where it might perchance hang out before guessing it to be extinct --- an insightful idea and scientific approach that many fail to grasp.

When all such areas have been fully explored, or when 100 years have passed with no credible sightings, I'll pay heed and take note of it; until then, I'll give as much attention to those who trumpet "60 years" as a loooong time as I give to those who believe the planet is less than 10,000 years old and all claims to the contrary are based on shoddy misreading of the geological record.

Happy weekend all!
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-- Mississippi ? --

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Cornell mentions Mississippi among the states with upcoming, organized IBWO searches that they are assisting. Mississippi is certainly one of the states most likely harboring Ivory-bills, yet this is the first I've heard of official organized searching there. I'm aware individuals are searching on their own in MS. but can anyone fill me in (preferably via email) on what more official or systematic endeavors are being made???
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-- Of Ivory-bills and Vegans --

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Over the years I've known several people who became vegetarians or even vegans after eating and enjoying meat for 30-40 years and even thinking meat was necessary for their health. In actuality, many things that we think of as necessary in life are in fact little more than ingrained preferences, that we can easily live without.

In biology much is made of the notion of specialist versus generalist species. But this is just a human construct and a false black-and-white dichotomy. ALL creatures are specialists in some sense, it is only a matter of degrees. Indeed, pigeons and starlings may in fact be "specialists" just as much as Ivory-bills, even if we humans haven't yet perceived or categorized their particular specializations.

Following Tanner, writers came to blindly repeat the notion that Ivory-bills REQUIRED certain foods, certain size trees, certain amount of space for survival, but without evidence to support such definitive claims. No amount of repetition by itself validates such statements. Tanner showed only that a pitifully small sampling of Ivory-bills preferred certain foods... when available, preferred certain trees... when available, and utilized a certain number of square miles... when available. That Ivory-bills could NOT survive without bark beetle larvae, without large first-growth trees, and on less than 6 square miles simply has never been shown, and is actually quite a leap of logic (Ivory-bills, being 15-20% larger than Pileateds, could likely make do with trees 20% larger than those used by Pileateds, and such trees are plentiful.) To truly know the needs/requirements of a creature one must know its physiology and cognition --- behavioral cues/observations by themselves are not enough to base such firm conclusions, and yet that is principally what we have for the Ivory-bill (there are possible physiological reasons why the IBWO species might be unable to survive without beetle larvae, but these are rarely discussed).

Maybe time will show that Tanner, or his interpreters, got it right from the start, but I'm still waiting for the evidence, not mere regurgitation, that would validate that. And in the meantime, 1000's of acres of land that do meet Tanner's requirements await searching.
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-- The More The Merrier --

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Yet another Ivory-bill search blog has begun, this one by photographer Kyle Gerstner, soon to join the Auburn team in the Choctawhatchee. He says the blog is for "family and friends," but I s'pose we can all peek in from time to time:

http://kylegerstner.blogspot.com/

One of my acquaintances and his wife will be joining the Auburn team at about the same time as Kyle for a 3-month sojourn. A Merry Campephilus to all!


Addendum: Kyle appears to have now taken his site down.
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-- 'Believers' Forum --

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Awhile back some of the Ivory-bill 'believers' and searchers disenchanted with the IBWO atmosphere over at "BirdForum" migrated to their own (mediated) discussion site at:

http://www.ibwo.net

If you followed IBWO matters over at BirdForum then many of the names and thoughts here will be familiar --- if the BirdForum discussion intrigued you, or if you never followed that site, then their new venue is worth a gander (...if you were critical/skeptical of the old site, the new site won't likely alter your viewpoint). Thus far, there are about 70 members of the new forum (which was started, by the way, by Donald Kimball).

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-- Habitat Review --

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With the South Carolina and other official searches soon to get underway might be a good time (especially for newbies to the topic, or potential independent searchers) to review the conclusions of Bill Pulliam who earlier this year employed Terraserver to spot locales suitable for Ivory-bills throughout the southeast:

http://bbill.blogspot.com/2006/03/potential-ivory-billed-woodpecker.html
and,
http://bbill.blogspot.com/2006/03/summary.html

...and to review the thoughts of long-time IBWO searcher Bob Russell on good places to look:

http://www.birdingamerica.com/toptenibwpsites.htm

So much habitat in need of searching (maybe 8000-14000 sq. miles)... and yet many are already saying they'll give up on the species if this limited search season goes unsuccessful. Luckily, real field science doesn't operate on arbitrary timetables nor armchair analysis, but depends on those hands-on few willing and able to do the toilsome, on-the-ground work necessary, however long it takes.
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-- Texas Note --

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A note here about some details of the upcoming Texas Ivory-bill search:

http://gcbo.typepad.com/gulf_coast_bird_observato/2006/11/ivorybilled_woo.html

And elsewhere on the Net it's mentioned that the S.C. search begins anew this coming Mon. (...I didn't realize any of the major organized searches were initiating before Christmas!).
As mentioned before I'm not terribly optimistic about either the Texas or S.C. searches, but still good to see serious and enthusiastic searches taking place in these locales, which need to be covered once-and-for-all in an organized manner. Go for it and prove me wrong!
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-- Stuff --

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A few things makin' the rounds:

Zoologist/chemist Fred Virrazzi has written the following article for a local Audubon newsletter regarding the level of evidence for Ivory-bill existence:

http://www.monmouthaudubon.org/PDF_files/DecJan07c.pdf

Geoff Hill has an update on his Auburn IBWO website, focussing on one specifically-recorded loud knock that correlated with one of their team's original Ivory-bill sightings:

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/cosam/departments/biology/faculty/webpages/hill/ivorybill/Updates.html

David Luneau has posted some pictures of fall in the Big Woods here (...all the pictures, except the one everyone clamors for!):

http://www.ibwo.org/Pictures/Fall%2006%20album/index.htm

Don't know whether or not The Ghostbird movie, an independent documentary originally centered on the find in the Big Woods and the town of Brinkley, AR., is extending itself to some coverage of the Florida panhandle events or the coming winter searches... If not, it ought to be out by now or very soon (at independent film festivals). Final preparations will soon be being made for the searches to begin in earnest in January.

Soooooo.... are we having fun yet?!!!
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-- Parrots Down-Under --

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In a case of good timing, John Trapp who I just referenced a few days ago has a post today alerting readers to a rather fascinating story about an Australian parrot that has some parallels to our American IBWO controversy (it also has some parallels to some historical cases I shan't mention!):

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20816235-28737,00.html

John ends his post wondering if "the whole world is going stark, raving mad!" ...I guess I'm more inclined to wonder if we are possibly coming to our senses as to how flimsy and bare our assumed knowledge of flora/fauna is. . . .
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-- Another Scientist Weighs In --

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European mathematician/physicist Dr. Jan Swart wrote the following essay (in PDF form) on the Ivory-bill controversy, entitled "Rediscovering Tanner's Woodpecker; reflections on the survival of the Ivory-bill," summarizing several of the arguments put forth thus far (needs some U.S. editing):

http://staff.utia.cas.cz/swart/IBWO.pdf

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-- This Just In --

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Of possible interest, this note just in from an "anonymous" source, regarding discovery (in October) of a large South American woodpecker:

"It appears that a large woodpecker, Celeus obrieni, known only from a single specimen collected in Brazil in 1926, was just rediscovered. Details, including photos of the bird in the hand, are posted in Portuguese at:

http://arruda.rits.org.br/notitia/servlet/newstorm.ns.presentation.NavigationServlet?publicationCode=
6&pageCode=67&textCode=19739&date=currentDate&contentType=html

Surely details will be posted soon in English. "

There is much debate over whether Celeus obrieni is truly a fully separate species or just a subspecies of Celeus spectabilus --- see: http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~remsen/SACCProp59.html
The division of species is often a difficult, tricky, and dare I say, somewhat arbitrary decision (not nearly as scientific or definitive as some assume) --- when there is only one prior specimen recorded, all the more difficult and shaky. I haven't seen any genetic analysis on this particular case (which would also not necessarily be definitive), and physical features and habitat alone, can be very misleading cues in individual instances.
Still, having said all that, the idea that a large living woodpecker specimen has been found that doesn't match anything seen since 1926 is, needless-to-say, intriguing. Make of it what you wish....
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-- Bird Blogs --

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Just a 'filler' post today, not very IBWO-related: Sometimes people ask which general bird blogs I read regularly, so herewith a list of 8 U.S. blogs, rounded out with 2 general bird sites, I frequent --- this is not necessarily a list of "best" or "most informative" blogs, just some I often find newsy, interesting, quirky, or otherwise entertaining (for my personal taste) :

http://birdstuff.blogspot.com/ --- Possibly my favorite blog just to lean back and take a gander at. John (Trapp, who runs it) will probably be surprised to hear this since we have some itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie disagreements over matters, but the quirkiness and unpredictability of John's posts is often a breath of fresh air (although he also covers the more routine 'headline' news of the birdworld as well). He also includes an excellent set of links to other bird blogs (recently updated) in the right-hand margin.

http://birdwatching.birderblog.com/ --- Laura Erickson's popular and widely-followed blog --- very frequent and varied posts; a routine daily stopover for many of us.

http://birdchick.com/blog.html --- Another fairly familiar, well-read and somewhat quirky blog, and one that I think gets better and better over time... but be aware, you need a high tolerance for bunny rabbits to visit routinely!

...and (in no particular order) five more fairly 'standard,' basic bird blogs that I think are consistent from week-to-week :

http://birdchaser.blogspot.com/

http://birddigiscoping.com/blog.html

http://dendroica.blogspot.com/

http://wildbirdonthefly.blogspot.com/

http://10000birds.com/

and finally, 2 general birding sites I usually find worth stopping in on:

http://www.littlebirdiehome.com/

http://www.surfbirds.com

A majority of you are likely already familiar with the above sites, but if not, drop by them during your internet hopscotching, and give a look-see... or, there are a jillion other birding blogs/sites out there to suit everyone's particular tastes/interests.
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-- Another Not-So-Extinct Bird --

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(Among other things) Yogi Berra was known for saying, "the game's not over 'til it's over," but he might just as well have said, "they ain't extinct 'til there's no more left." The Madagascar Pochard, a nice-sized diving duck many thought extinct, has been found (13 of them so far) swimming around oddly enough, in perfectly fine habitat in northern Madagascar --- on the count of ten I guess we're all supposed to act surprised about this! The last known one was captured (and died in captivity) in 1991. Multiple sightings hadn't occurred since around 1960. How DARE living things exist for years outside the sight of humans!!

It's said that you can't be 'a little bit pregnant'... some of us hold strictly to the odd notion, ungrasped by others, that you also can't be a little bit extinct....

http://www.kbcitv.com/news/4700151.html
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-- The Thanksgiving 'List' --

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---> Ten Things I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving :


10. Seinfeld re-runs

9. Wi-fi

8. Shetland sheepdogs

7. Dark chocolate M&Ms

6. Presidential term limits

5. Steve Jobs

4. Google

3. The Auburn Biology Dept.

2. Rumors

1. ...A pulse


--- Here's hoping all of you have many things (...and don't forget the 'simple' things) to be grateful for this Thanksgiving!!

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-- Winter Surprises --

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Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have long-migrated from my local southeastern locale, but this weekend I got to watch as a lst-year Rufous Hummingbird was captured and banded at a house a few blocks from me. In recent years the appearances of these Rufous Hummers (and occasionally other "western" hummer species) have become routine, though still rare. As word gets out for people in the southeast to leave their hummingbird feeders up in wintertime and watch for the possibility, each year more of these oddities get reported. Still, one can't help but wonder how many of them are missed totally each and every cold season --- dozens... 100's... 1000's across the region???

It is difficult to know if more and more of these li'l jewels are making the winter sojourn eastward than ever before, or, as may well be the case, they have in large part always been here (in winter), but only in recent times been noticed. Watching this feisty little tyke get fitted for a leg band I couldn't help but think how just a few decades ago someone reporting a hummingbird in their backyard in winter here would've been met with all-knowing skepticism, but now we know better, and it is a cause of much interest and serious study. Just another example in the bird-world of how little, really, we know, or comprehend with certainty.... and how that knowledge constantly changes over time.
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-- Stretched Thin ? --

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A post on the Arkansas listserv this weekend again sought volunteers to sign up by Dec. 1, for the Cornell Big Woods search this winter. If interested go here:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/latest/volunteer/document_view

There are a limited number of birders around the country who have the time, backwoods skills and equipment, personal funds, and interest to take part in these searches, and with serious endeavors planned for Florida, S.C., Texas, and possibly other locales in addition to AR. one wonders if the qualified applicant pool isn't pretty well thinned out now for the amount of acreage deserving of interest.. This has always been the catch-22 of IBWO searching: there probably aren't enough qualified, willing searchers to thoroughly cover all potential habitat out there at once, and if you use available manpower to fully cover certain specific locales then other worthy areas likely go inadequately investigated.
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-- National Geographic Article --

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Nice summary article in the latest National Geographic edition on the Arkansas situation:

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0612/feature6/index.html

Nothing really new to report, but interesting, extended, and well-written piece with some good quotes.
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