-- IBWO Researchers Forum --

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Those who assiduously follow all-things-Ivorybill likely already know that one of the recent topics of discussion over at IBWO Researchers Forum has been potential drumming (or tapping) patterns for the Ivory-bill possibly heard in the field by searchers or recorded in Cornell's original (and only confirmed) soundtrack of Ivory-bills from the Singer Tract (1930s), available here:

http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio.do?id=6784

Bill Pulliam weighs in with his thoughts on the matter here.

I'm all for pursuing all leads and forms of analysis. My only precaution being that the Cornell recording represents a single example from a miniscule sample of birds at one isolated location 70 years ago, and I'm not willing to assume that the tape is NECESSARILY technically representative of remnant birds left today in other parts of the country, separated by several generations from the birds recorded... BUT, that tape is all we got, so of course, by all means use it (and I think there is reason to believe that rapping or drumming patterns would change less over time than "kent" sounds might... still, very small sampling size). So have at it.

The other focus of attention lately over at the IBWO Forum has been a recent possible (brief) sighting claim for 2 Ivorybills in the Congaree (S.C.) by one of the independent searchers there. The Cornell search team is scheduled to be in S.C. in mid-March anyway; we'll see if the latest claim gets them there any sooner. S.C. remains near the top of everyone's list for best potential IBWO habitat in the entire Southeast; whether there are birds there to utilize it, time will tell.
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-- ....And Waiting --

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Auburn's Dr. Hill has updated his site to re-summarize the 2008 Choctawhatchee season, and bring folks up-to-date on current activities, while continuing to express optimism that their new vibration-detection cameras stand a greater chance of capturing an IBWO on film than previous remote cameras (subject to various failures) did.

So far as I can tell there have been no plans to re-deploy the ACONE cameras in the Bayou de View area of Arkansas for this search season, since they were last taken down (they suffered from mechanical breakdowns and from difficult accessibility during flooded times). If someone knows otherwise please let us know. (Some automatic Reconyx cameras are still in use there.)
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-- While We're Waiting --

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In the event you've got way too much free time on your hands ;-) :

Bill Pulliam has pulled together for easy accessibility his various analyses of the original Luneau video in a recent post here:

http://bbill.blogspot.com/2009/02/summary-of-my-luneau-postings.html

For opposing points of view:

Louis Bevier's original analysis of the matter is still up below (...so I guess he hasn't changed his mind yet ;-)) :

http://web.mac.com/lrbevier/ivorybilled/Identification.html (several pages)

And Martin Collinson's study of the matter as published in an open access journal is here:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1741-7007-5-8.pdf

What I stiiiiiiiiill have not seen anywhere are the conclusions of an extensive analysis Cornell did on a computer-generated, digitized Ivory-billed Woodpecker in flight, to see how it would match up against the pixels of the bird in Luneau's video. If anyone can fill in the results of that analysis, I'd appreciate hearing of it.
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-- Jackson Speaking --

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Dr. Jerome Jackson will be leading off the Conservancy of Southwest Florida (Naples, FL.) speaker series next Thur. (Feb 12, 6 pm.) on the topic, "In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker" --- same as title of his book on same topic. Jackson is a professor at nearby Florida Gulf Coast University, and of course is one of the most longstanding experts on the species. I suspect he'll have some comments on the current search for the IBWO in southwest Florida. Talk is "free to members"... not clear to me if non-members are able to attend for a fee or not (or you can pay $35 to join).
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-- Computer Reading --

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Parts of some Ivory-bill related books available online at Google Books site:

"In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker" by Jerome Jackson

"Wild Echoes" by Charles Bergman (Ivory-bill material beginning on pg. 220)

and material from Christopher Cokinos' "Hope Is the Thing With Feathers"

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-- Misc. --

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Mike Collins is back in the Pearl for another ongoing search season.

Mary Scott has reposted a small portion of her former BirdingAmerica site here.

And in the "I-get-email" Dept. a reader sends along this link to a YouTube video, just in case you're in the need to see something depressing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxM5falj_WI&feature=bz302
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-- Rosen Essay --

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Not Ivory-bill-focused, but nice essay from Jonathan Rosen here.
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-- Hard and Soft Science --

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Here.
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-- Remembrance --

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Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and a few days ahead (on the same day as this year's Super Bowl) comes the 6th anniversary of the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. In their honor:



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-- Mississippi Yearning --

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Happy January 21st: The first day of the rest of America's life!.... :-)


Lately, a certain amount of chatter has referenced searches for the Ivory-bill in Mississippi. I've frequently noted MS. in the past as one of the top 3 states (IMO) for IBWO potential, along with Florida and Louisiana. FL. and LA. have received so much past focus, that in some ways MS. with less historical attention, yet much good inter-connected habitat, is all the more attractive. Some of the recent, ongoing work being carried out there is outlined here:

http://ntweb.deltastate.edu/mbonta/Ivory-billed%20Woodpeckers.htm

(not included above is work being carried out by Cornell's mobile team or other searchers at the far south end of the state, which may even harbor the best habitat)
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-- NEW Day In America --

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Jan.20, 2009 (...no IBWO news)

Couple of tributes in honor of today's inauguration:






...and lastly, a 60's classic that just feels fitting:



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-- Pressing On --

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The previously-cited open access article is swirling around the Web on science sites, blogs, and news pages. I'm always a bit (pleasantly) surprised when these open-access IBWO studies get such widespread attention. I s'pose it has something to do with the controversial nature of the topic and the general interest this bird attracts (some of PLoS's problems in dealing with Mike Collins' paper I believe have to do with the controversial nature of the subject matter as well --- a great thing about science is that it encourages putting all ideas/evidence out there on a table for all to shine a light on and judge, rather than assuming the correctness of a few, or even assuming that 'truth' can always be fixed in stone).

For the last two years I've seen routine skeptical remarks to the effect that no serious, or credible, or intelligent birder/scientist any longer considers the prior IBWO claims valid, nor sees any possibility for the bird's persistence. In actuality, amidst wide pessimism, there have always been scientists who view the species' existence as possible, and many others who are simply sitting on the fence awaiting more study --- they just don't happen to be as loud and vocal as the naysayers on the Web who feed off each other to render an impression of unanimity when there is none. A skeptic/commenter to a post below chimes in that this whole affair "has ruined so many reputations".... almost causes one to wonder how many reputations would be ruined if the Ivory-bill were to be conclusively documented?
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-- Catching Up --

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The latest open-access internet paper related to the Ivory-bill search making the rounds comes from the University of Georgia and concludes that as few as 5 pairs of Ivory-bills from the early 1900's are all that would be needed for the species to subsist until today. The paper attempts to evaluate the longevity of small bird populations, specifically for "rare large-bodied woodpeckers," given various demographic assumptions. They analyzed various scenarios (in the worse case, extinction resulted within 7 years) to demonstrate the higher-than-acknowledged possibility of the Ivory-bill persisting to today (of course for some of us, the possibility of IBWO persistence is obvious from common sense and the examples of other creatures, without all the statistics and empirical analysis applied ;-)).
The research was funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, some of whom are directly associated with the IBWO Recovery Team, so I'm sure the paper's conclusions won't be taken seriously by many who have largely made up their minds on the subject... to whom the authors may one day say, 'we told ya so.' Summary of paper here, if you don't want to read the full academic version.

Speaking of online papers, my current understanding is that Mike Collins' IBWO flight dynamics paper may yet appear over at PLoS at some point (working through some administrative matters) though I don't know a timetable (if Mike or anyone else knows otherwise or has more details feel free to send along a comment/clårification).
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-- 4 Months Left and Counting --

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By April 30 of this year it will be 4 years since Cornell made their incredible announcement beginning this long, bumpy, winding journey. Essentially, there are about 4 months left to move the Ivory-bill agenda forward. If nothing is found in these 4 months more substantial than what is already on record in support of Ivory-bill persistence, then official searching, funding, and most interest will die a solemn death (independent searchers will carry on their efforts as money and time allows). More individual sightings, blurry video, and auditory recordings won't do (so proclaimeth from on-high the skeptically-inclined). An indisputable photo or carcass are needed (...where is Mason Spencer when we need him -- juuust joking); or at bare minimum, a prolonged sighting by multiple credible observers.

By April's end this blog will hit about 1000 posts for its lifetime... averaging (to my amazement) about 5 posts per week since inception, seeking to inform, entertain, and... yes, annoy, certain readers, and forever preaching "patience" for the strenuous task of documenting individual birds in difficult, expansive terrain. The final push is on now to attain the level of documentation that will satisfy all, and time is running short, for the searches, for patience, and... for the birds.

I'll be busy with a conference this weekend, and may not post the next few days ('til Sun. evening anyway?), so please, pleeease all you searchers, whatever you do, DON'T find the Ivory-bill this weekend, okay! ;-))
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-- Chill Out --

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Not too surprisingly I've gotten some inquiries about the post/no-post flap from a couple days back, including one suggestion that perhaps it was just a hoax or some sort of gambit to re-boost interest in the IBWO. I can safely assure folks it was not any sort of hoax, but a sincere report of possible sightings of the Ivory-bill at a non-disclosed location, which is being further pursued. Beyond that, I'll likely have nothing more to say about it unless the parties involved have more to report publicly. For now, there are at least a couple other claims I'm probably more interested in getting additional details on than the one yanked. And with only ~ 4 months left in this season's search, one hopes more details will be forthcoming.

Anyway, it's been a rough few days; time to just chill out with Matt Harding's old viral video:



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-- Odds 'n Ends --

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Two-fers?:

Fish and Wildlife biologist Bob Russell promises he is completing an updated Top 10 list of places to look for Ivory-bills, and may even throw in a Top 10 list of where to look for the Eskimo Curlew as a bonus (...you know, for those who will be bored stiff once the IBWO is documented ;-) The possible two-fer that has always interested a lot of people, and remains on some folks' mind, would be finding Bachman's Warbler while looking for the Ivory-bill (there have been a few suggestive leads for Bachman's last couple of years, but, surprise-surprise, nothing conclusive).
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-- Your Shot of Adrenalin For Today --

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As I said once before, NOTHING in the Ivorybill arena is ever simple... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......

THE POST LINKED TO EARLIER TODAY HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN, AND I'VE BEEN ASKED AS WELL TO REMOVE ANY FURTHER REFERENCE TO IT (AND HAVE HEREBY DONE SO). I CAN ONLY SAY THAT PARTIES INVOLVED DO NOT WANT EVEN THE BIT OF VAGUE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE POST DISSEMINATED WIDELY. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD ALREADY READ THE POST BEFORE ITS REMOVAL, OR MAY EVEN ALREADY BE PASSING IT ALONG. THERE WAS NOTHING MORE CONVINCING ABOUT THE PARTICULAR CLAIM DESCRIBED THAN ANY NUMBER OF OTHER CLAIMS THAT HAVE COME ALONG AND LED NOWHERE. OBVIOUSLY, MORE STUDY MAY CHANGE THAT; TIME WILL TELL.
AM TRULY SORRY FOR ANY 'INCONVENIENCE' OR MISPLACED ANTICIPATION CAUSED.

Again, it is a sad situation we are in that people are made to feel so reluctant about the public release of even general information.


And, yet another little bit on the Florida mangroves, courtesy of a reader who prefers to remain anonymous:

As he/she recalls it, one sighting came from a ranger during a flyover of the Everglades mangroves last year, during which the ranger believes an Ivory-bill was spotted in flight below the plane; and possibly there was another report from a fisherman in the same area as well. "This area of mangrove forest is huge with some very, very large trees. The largest of these are the Black Mangroves that are supposed to be up to 100 feet tall;" and the writer stresses the age and density of this virgin forest, cautioning that it is not an area for independent searchers, unfamiliar with the terrain, to attempt to traverse on their own.
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-- Last Bit On Mangroves For Now --

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An emailer asks for more details on last season's claims from Florida mangrove areas, but... I have no more details. The little bit I heard in private emails lacked elaboration, and gave no indication that the reports were taken very seriously at the time (although I believe one sighting came from a wildlife officer with some credibility).

All of this points to one of the annoying aspects of the Ivory-bill saga. The scorn of skeptics seems to have produced a "chilling effect" on the disclosure of Ivory-bill reports. Those reports that are easily-explained-away upon examination or otherwise NON-credible need no publicity. But there remains a residue of reports from credible or potentially credible sources that also seem to be swept out of public view.

Around the Web I see frequent skeptical remarks to the effect that "NO evidence" has been found for IBWOs after all of this searching --- but EVIDENCE HAS BEEN GATHERED; the debate is over its validity and how much to publicly release, not whether ongoing evidence exists. A decision seems to have been made, following so much criticism and ridicule, to disclose very few reports or details, unless a very high standard is met. In short, heated skepticism has had a "chilling effect" on the very reporting of anything less than solid evidence at this point (which in turn leads cynics to conclude falsely that there has been NOTHING to report).
Generally speaking, "chilling effects" are not a good thing for science. It's as if NASA stopped talking about manned moon landings because moon-hoax conspiracy theorists take everything NASA presents and twists it around to be 'smoke-and-mirrors,' faking the moon landings; so why put out more material and subject oneself to such reproach. Indeed, in this 'Alice-through-the-looking-glass' world, skeptics now use all sightings, not accompanied by photographic evidence, as yet further evidence of extinction: if 100 new sightings occur, STIIIIIIIIILL with no photograph, it must be confirmation of extinction in the cynical view.

I don't really expect IBWOs will be found in mangrove forest, and don't wish to raise hopes unduly for that particular habitat, but, having said that, it would be delicious irony if it turned out that Ivory-bills were cavorting merrily around in mangroves for decades while humans bumbled through bottomland woods lookin' for 'em for no other reason than prior humans postulating this was the only place they could be.

On a sidenote, Bill Pulliam's latest take on the IBWO saga here:

http://bbill.blogspot.com/2009/01/woodpecker-rumblings.html
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