-- A Stellar Find --

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“Unfortunately, nature is very much a now-you-see-it, now-you-don't affair. A fish flashes, then dissolves in the water before my eyes like so much salt. Deer apparently ascend bodily into heaven; the brightest oriole fades into leaves.”  — Annie Dillard

I usually try to keep away from these stories of rare or unusual bird sightings (there are many each year) as having any great relevance to the Ivory-bill saga, but this one involving a large, stunning bird showing up out-of-the-blue and out-of-place is just too remarkable to pass up, reverberating again with how little we know about individual bird behavior.

For those who haven’t heard, a magnificent, vagrant Steller’s Eagle (larger, and just as striking as our American Bald Eagle) has shown up in Canada  thousands of miles from its Asian home territory. It’s been moving around quite a bit; perhaps it will show up on our eastern seaboard! As Nate Swick of ABA simply says, “It’s nuts. It really is. It’s one of those head-scratching things” to find this bird here in N. America at all. Others call it “mind-boggling” and “a one in a million shot.” 

Once, when a very unusual hummingbird showed up in my state, completely out-of-place, I surmised it accidentally hitched a ride in the back of a transport vehicle perhaps hauling tropical plants from a source 1000+ miles away, as I refused to believe it flew here under its own power... but that sort of 'accidental' ride scenario (or any other) is far less conceivable for the appearance of this waaay-lost raptor.

Anyway, read all about it (because, yes, mind-boggling things do happen on occasion, and nature is full of surprises):

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/05/science/stellers-sea-eagle.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesscience

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/steller-s-sea-eagle-nova-scotia-rare-bird-sighting-1.6237014

ADDENDUM 11/16:

Hahh! not IBWO-related, but kinda funny after me mentioning the possibility of stowaway birds, today this story appears of a Roadrunner from Las Vegas hitching a ride to Maine (strange things happen in the world of birds):

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/16/1056191659/roadrunner-stowaway-moving-van-las-vegas-maine

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-- In Time For Halloween: The Haunting ;) --

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People talk a lot about how politically polarized the country is these days… though perhaps it’s actually always been polarized and modern-day digital media have simply exacerbated and shone a bright light on the divisions.  Anyway, the polarization is interestingly reflected in the Ivory-bill debate as well, as over time, both sides have dug in their heels perhaps even more so. In lieu of the recent USFWS pronouncement, long-time IBWO proponents, especially those who have some vested interest (because of their prior efforts, vocal arguments, reputation, etc.) in the debate, have possibly hardened their stands and are campaigning for a reversal of the USFWS recommendation, while scoffers may be losing all patience. With that said, there are some skeptics who admit they would love to be proved wrong, love to see the IBWO documented, but just find scant little solid evidence for any optimism. And vice-versa there are a few former believers, who by now have surrendered most hope, and must wonder if the species even actually ever made it through the 1940s bottleneck. There are also many, who like myself, still think a few remnants do exist, but wholly doubt the species can be saved even if found and protected. Maybe we’d have them around another 10 - 25 years, but short of some sort of massive and uncertain cloning project, then what?

Anyway, despite my gut instinct that a few stragglers still fly, there is one element that has always haunted me a bit in this saga. For those who have followed the story since the official Big Woods search went public, you may well recall the leucistic (largely white) Pileated that was spotted, and photographed, early on (you can google “Pileated Woodpecker +leucistic” if you need to see examples). The ghostly, heavily-white bird caught on film could hardly be mistaken for an IBWO, but it always made me nervous to wonder what the offspring and siblings of that bird might’ve looked like (and for that matter the offspring of its offspring, etc…) — leucism comes in a variety of degrees and forms; might not a more partially-leucistic Pileated (or even a crow), in a brief look (and almost all IBWO sightings are brief), lend the appearance of an Ivory-bill? (indeed, ornithologist Noel Snyder once reported just such a specimen in Florida). Several other varyingly leucistic PIWOs popped up on the Web, BTW, in the months after the Arkansas Big Woods encounter.  Of course leucistic birds are relatively rare… but, of course IBWO sighting-claims are themselves very rare. What percentage of the best sightings are just leucistic birds of other species?

Again, what we need are prolonged, clear-cut sightings/video from credible, knowledgeable observers.

p.s.... Matt Courtman spoke with believer Geoff Hill for well over an hour on his IBWO podcast last Mon. night and will probably have a link to it at some point (...I'll post link here when I see it). And he'll likely have another guest next Monday.

(Hill) link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KR4AiUij6g

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-- More Stuff... --

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When it rains it pours… after some years of bloggish dormancy, news keeps coming for the moment… though I expect after the USFWS final decision at end of November things will slow down once again (no matter which direction the decision takes, and I don't believe there is anything forthcoming, short-term, that will move the needle on their decision).

Anyway, a few links or mentions for now:

1)  Mark Michaels implies in a note that he and/or the National Aviary that employs him will have something further to say publicly about their research (in La.) and the USFWS proclamation before end of Nov.

2)  In a prior post I mentioned J. Christopher Haney’s forthcoming book on the IBWO and cognitive aspects of the search. His recent appearance with Matt Courtman for IBWO discussion is available here (~90 mins., but you can speed through some parts):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k4wqNwMdMv8QnNOWqJIwtcm6gTkWLu5B/view

...and on this coming Monday (10/18) Courtman will have another Zoom discussion, this time with ornithologist (and Choctawhatchee searcher) Geoff Hill:

https://www.facebook.com/events/930432581204311?ref=newsfeed

3)  And can’t neglect to mention that Mike Collins, who once spoke of throwing in the towel on the IBWO debate, is back with another new paper here, in an open-access journal:

https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/epdf/10.1142/S2591728521500201

…it’s mostly a rehash of his rehashes of his rehashes (and I don’t mean that as a putdown, but just as a warning to folks well-familiar with his work and arguments, that most of this 34-page paper you will have read before, though this gives a nice re-overview), but it does contain one new idea… and Mike is nothing if not an idea-generator.

His new notion is to focus on acoustics and employ “A horizontal array of microphones” that  “would make it possible to detect weaker sounds and determine the directions of sources. This approach has the potential to lead to the discovery of a nest, and it might be more effective if the array is placed above the treetops, where sounds might propagate to longer ranges.”

Anyway, read it all for yourself; makes for a nice review of both some IBWO history as well as more recent events/arguments... as for finding a nest hole, well, don't hold your breath.

...and one last note: with all the publicity the Ivory-bill has once again received in the last month, its picture plastered all over the press once more, you can pretty much count on yet a new flurry of (mistaken) "sightings" coming from the public-at-large. So beware.

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-- Onward --

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Tim Gallagher, who has a bit of interest in the decision ;) has written a piece for Audubon regarding the USFWS recommendation to declare the IBWO extinct:

https://www.audubon.org/news/is-it-really-time-write-ivory-billed-woodpeckers-epitaph-0?fbclid=IwAR2dAiSANIcCa52hnFzXi5-OSmcoBzHn9yejdLyeB2i1Ufse1Qzdf8yvAfo

It largely rehashes the arguments that have been made all along and Tim’s own personal experience, and Tim is a good writer so it is an enjoyable read. But with that said, I was disappointed that toward the end, and you could hear the frustration/aggravation in his words while writing about the difficulty of attaining evidence strong enough to sway skeptics, he ventured over-the-top with this bit:

“So, unless someone manages to take the most stunning, crisp, unbelievably vivid photograph or video imaginable—or better yet, find an active nest that other researchers can view—it may not be universally believed.”

No, it does not require “the most stunning, crisp” or “unbelievably vivid” photographic evidence to demonstrate this species’ existence. Crappy, blurry, but closeup photos that simply show a few key features will do, or fuzzy, prolonged video of very mediocre quality will suffice… and that is what we haven’t had for an amazing and disappointing 75+ years. One doesn’t require a Leica camera with a 600 mm. lens… an iPhone may do the trick (…or, if you were to believe Fielding Lewis, a Brownie camera suffices nicely). So folks please don't hold back your photos of Ivory-bills because they're not of stellar, award-winning quality ;)

There are plenty of reasons to explain why getting such a photo or video may be difficult… but, given what has been accomplished with other rare species, it is also difficult to explain the lack of even one given the effort put in over this long a time. "I couldn't get my camera out fast enough," "I couldn't get the camera to focus in time," "I was so stunned, I didn't even think to reach for my camera"... gets a li'l old after awhile... coulda, woulda, shoulda.

And photographic evidence is not the only possibility. A clear, prolonged sighting by a truly universally-respected, and skeptical, ornithologist or birder would definitely rev up  belief in this species, or even such a sighting by a large group (say 8 or more) of less well-known, but very experienced, birders, could do it. ...David Sibley saying "I think I may have seen an Ivory-billed Woodpecker" wouldn't do it, but David Sibley saying "I saw an Ivory-billed Woodpecker" would! A slimmer possibility might be finding Ivory-bill DNA at a nest hole or foraging site… let alone a dead carcass.

These are not near-impossible levels of evidence to achieve; in fact they are possibly inevitable, given enough time (whatever that be), IF the species is indeed extant. And IF the bird is finally documented to everyone’s satisfaction, stunned ornithologists and naturalists worldwide will likely regard it as one of the greatest, most incredible sagas in all of zoological science and history. Meanwhile, we believers, will quietly (or, perhaps not-so-quietly) shake our heads, knowing it could hardly have turned out otherwise.

p.s…. Tim encourages everyone with thoughts on the matter to comment to the USFWS before they make their final decision at end of November:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/09/30/2021-21219/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-removal-of-23-extinct-species-from-the-lists-of#open-comment

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-- Another Book On the Way --

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Kind of funny that just as the Gov’t. is wishing to proclaim the IBWO extinct, yet another book is coming out about this not-so-dead topic — I already mentioned Guy Luneau’s new volume just a few posts ago (and I suspect at least one or two more volumes are currently in the works). And now “Woody’s Last Laugh: How the Extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker Fools Us into Making 53 Thinking Errors” by J. Christopher Haney is due out in less than 2 months (in time for Christmas), taking a slightly different (cognitive psychology) slant on the long-time debate over this species:

https://tinyurl.com/5h9y5v6u

The resilience of this bird in human cognition, if not in physical presence, is phenomenal ;)

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ADDENDUM:

Turns out that Matt Courtman is doing a Zoom discussion with Dr. Haney this Monday night (Oct. 11) at 8pm. for anyone interested; details here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/285309080104593/?ref=newsfeed

-- Debate Continues, Comment Period Ends Nov. 29 --

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New "Birdwatching" article offers nice space/time to the opposing viewpoint of IBWO delisting (skeptics of the skeptics, including Fitzpatrick, Hill, Gallagher, Collins, Michaels, Luneau, Courtman...):

https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/species-profiles/longtime-ivory-bill-searchers-call-delisting-absurd-really-premature/

The public comment period on the USFWS recommendation ends Nov. 29, and the link for registering a comment is here:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/09/30/2021-21219/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-removal-of-23-extinct-species-from-the-lists-of#open-comment

(...of course, well-reasoned comments against delisting are encouraged)

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-- And the Beat Goes On --

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Another story on the USFWS's decision... the first one I've seen including Geoff Hill's view on the topic (but I've only read a fraction of the plethora of press reports so I may have missed some others):

https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2021/10/05/floridas-ivory-billed-woodpecker-is-officially-extinct-but-a-few-still-hope/

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ADDENDUM:

...and now more positive commentary from believer Geoff Hill here:

https://www.wsfa.com/2021/10/06/auburn-researcher-curator-birds-refutes-claim-that-ivory-billed-woodpeckers-are-now-extinct/

-- The Operative Phrase Is 'Might Be' --

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Well, finally a little better news coverage... Many of us were caught off-guard by the timing of the USFWS’s recent announcement (prior post), and as I already mentioned to various inquirers it was almost as if they tossed the IBWO onto their list knowing it would get them much wider news coverage than the same list without the Ivory-bill included… or perhaps there are current USFWS officials who fear the agency was losing credibility over its IBWO stance. At any rate, Cornell’s John W. Fitzpatrick is speaking out (during the comment period) to say that, 

"I'm expressing my considered opinion that this announcement is absolutely premature… Yes, the bird MIGHT be extinct, but there is plenty of reason to acknowledge that it MIGHT NOT be extinct. In such a case, we lose a lot more than we gain by declaring it officially gone. Instead, we should continue to acknowledge that as an iconic representative of southeastern forests and their recovery, this bird should remain on our list of critically endangered species while we continue to seek evidence of its existence, and continue to recover the old growth forests of the southeast."

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/sep/30/ivory-billed-woodpecker-extinct-federal-agency/?news-arkansas

...Let's hope, in the immortal words of Mark Twain, that "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." ;)

ADDENDUM:

Oh my, even The Onion can't resist getting in on the story:

https://www.theonion.com/u-s-declares-23-species-extinct-including-ivory-bille-1847777873

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-- A Day That Will Live In Infamy??? --

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According to news reports, today is the day the USFWS will officially pronounce the Ivory-billed Woodpecker to be extinct:

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/us-says-ivory-billed-woodpecker-and-more-20-other-species-have-gone-extinct

The official USFWS press release is here:

https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?_ID=37017

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-- Another Lord God Bird Book --

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"The Ivory-billed Woodpecker: Taunting Extinction"...

Can't give it a full-fledged endorsement since I haven't read it, but just from the sample offered through Amazon's "Look Inside" feature, this new volume from Guy Luneau looks worth a read... even though Guy calls it a "theory-filled" book and "a feel-good book, not so much a form of science paper." No doubt, speculative and provocative, but then that is almost unavoidable at this point in the Ivory-bill saga! (The Foreward, by the way, is by Matt Courtman):

https://www.zombiemediapublishing.com/2021/08/book-release-ivory-billed.html

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-- Dean Hurliman Highlighted --

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Many of you know of Iowa wood-carver Dean Hurliman through this blog, and his incredible carvings of the Ivory-Woodpecker (and other birds)... indeed several of you have been lucky enough to be recipients (for free!) of one of his immortalizing specimens.

So, very nice to see him get this well-deserved publicity for the heartfelt work he carries on:

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jul/26/whittled-away/

...may the breathing, flying counterparts of his wooden replicas yet be found in southern woodland!

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-- Quammen Commentary --

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A while back award-winning author David Quammen wrote on "Loss, Birds, and Hope":

https://www.davidquammen.com/dq-blog/32-loss-birds-complete

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-- The Effort Continues.... --

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Louisiana birder/searcher Matt Courtman announces a "new initiative" and Zoom presentation for July 17 "to set a more productive tone" with hopes of changing the public perception for future IBWO searching:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/179784035376368/permalink/4297751436912920/

His own 'Louisiana Wilds' and (new) 'Mission Ivory-bill' FB pages here:

https://www.facebook.com/TheLouisianaWilds

https://www.facebook.com/MissionIvorybill

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-- A Tad More History --

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A new historical piece on the Ivory-bill, focusing a bit more on some aspects not always emphasized. By the end though a disappointingly (though not unusual) negative/skeptical view of the species' likelihood of survival:

https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/podcast/the-death-of-the-lord-god-bird

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-- No…. --

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I keep getting a trickle of inquiries (increasing of late) essentially asking if I’ve seen any compelling IBWO evidence lately or know of any encouraging Ivorybill news forthcoming. So rather than keep answering folks individually let me just say in general “No” have NOT seen any new evidence/claims, either on the Web nor arriving privately via email, that I find convincing of IBWO presence, or at least not indicative of ‘proof’ of such existence. In fact, I’ve lost track of how many years it’s now been since I’ve had a really strongly interesting claim come to my attention (despite several coming in every year).

With that said, efforts remain ongoing in several quarters to search for the species at least on occasion, and of course it will only take one truly good video or photo to alter the landscape. I continue to believe the likelihood of its existence is better than 50/50, but each winter and breeding season that ends with no definitive record for the IBWO is despairing to say the least.

Wish I had more positive or encouraging thoughts/news to share, but the level of evidence needed for this species, and long, long, longtime absence of such, will continue to make most claims inadequate for the bulk of the birding and scientific community.

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-- Still in the News --

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This morning CBS Sunday ran this piece on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (and other extinct species), including Tim Gallagher and Bobby Harrison:

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-return-of-extinct-species/#x

They also recently re-ran this nostalgic piece from back in the day:

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/from-2005-in-search-of-the-ivory-billed-woodpecker/#x

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-- Once-in-awhile.... --

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Thanks to various Facebookers and others for linking to a story I’d missed… the Black-browed Babbler discovered in Borneo after having gone missing for over 170 years… yeah, you read that right, over 170 friggin’ years!:

https://tinyurl.com/y7bk7b7l

https://tinyurl.com/y7x9vxod

https://abcbirds.org/article/rediscover-black-browed-babbler/

http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/bird-missing-172-years-rediscovered-borneo-rainforest

Plenty of reasons not to compare this enigmatic bird or its discovery to the elusive Ivory-bill, but still, in times like these any good news is appreciated!

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-- A Little Catch-up --

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Again, unless or until I find something really promising, Ivory-bill matters have been on a backburner for me for quite awhile, but feel I ought do a li'l update for those who keep sending in questions/comments, or who may have missed these bits of news. So….

1)  Mark Michaels sent out a note some time ago basically saying what a difficult year 2020 had been for their research (they are still analyzing some of their data), and hoping 2021 would be better. Between weather extremities, ongoing covid concerns, and just the usual difficulties of IBWO searches, I’m not really too encouraged that 2021 will prove much better, but who knows.

https://www.aviary.org/conservation/projects/project-principalis/project-principalis-updates/

2)  Matt Courtman, who previously worked with Michaels’ group, and who believes he’s had IBWO encounters, has his own active project up-and-running under the heading “Louisiana Wilds.” In addition to doing fieldwork, he is actively engaging on Facebook with IBWO buffs here:

https://www.facebook.com/TheLouisianaWilds

…and is doing a weekly (Monday nights; yes tonight!) interactive Zoom discussion on various IBWO topics as well:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2871406676430877/

3)  For those asking, no I don’t know what is up with the IBWO Researchers Forum, as their “Forum” section seems to be down (other parts of their site operating OK). They recently paid for another year of Web presence, and the Forum had been a very active section in prior years, though much more subdued in recent years. If anyone knows what the problem is, or if it’s being worked on, feel free to inform us. 

4)  Someone on Facebook recently commented that Birdforum.net (probably the largest, oldest birding discussion site on the Web) was not allowing for discussion of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. I’m doubtful that that’s the case, though it’s possible they’re limiting or editing such discussions, as the same points, arguments, ideas, etc. keep coming up redundantly over and over again. Here are some of the more recent postings they’ve had on the Ivory-bill, though in a quick check I could not locate the many looooong threads they had in earlier years (have they indeed been edited out or archived somewhere???):

https://www.birdforum.net/search/438525/?q=ivory-billed+woodpecker&o=relevance

Their original thread, following the Cornell announcement, I believe was the longest thread (by far) in the entire history of the site; so it’s not as if they haven’t covered this topic fully in 1000s of postings done there previously, and I’m sure are open to any new real documentation that arises; but for many long-time members there the constant round-and-round rehash of old, old, old debates becomes well, old....

5)  Mike Collins, who was very active in those early BirdForum IBWO back-and-forths (and burned some bridges there), again offered his YouTube take on matters a month ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6OZTDbb5Fw

6)  Anyway, while I’m not optimistic about any solid new evidence for IBWO appearing anytime soon, good luck to all carrying on searches, in what may well be another heavily covid-affected year — unlike the pandemic optimism I keep hearing from many others, I actually have far more concern about covid now, with its multiplying variants, than I've had for the entire last year where, with basic precautions taken, vulnerability, I think, was much lower for most individuals. So be careful out there.

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