-- 3 Thought Experiments --

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Another ramble:

1) Virtually every day while driving or walking a roadway around here I spy a few deer emerging from the woods' edge. Yet these are but a tiny fraction of the 1000's more present I don't see. In fact, I see more deer from the roadways then I ever see when actually in the woods, where they no doubt hear/see me first and scamper before being viewed --- if seen at all it is usually a brief fleeing view (hmmm...). They are easily the largest creatures in our woods and yet I observe very few of these prolific, land-based mammals considering how many are actually out there --- should it really come as a surprise then that a very scarce, flying, tree-dwelling bird could stay out-of human sight with far greater ease?

2) Imagine that your lifetime experience and knowledge of birds is what it always has been EXCEPT that you've never seen nor heard of hummingbirds EVER! What would you think, then, if someone came along and told you all about hummers, their description and behavior? You'd think they were NUTS!! There couldn't conceivably be a BIRD like that. Either the reporter was a liar or idiot, or was describing some sort of large insect, certainly not a bird. THAT'S what prior entrenched experience would lead you to believe because your ability to comprehend all the possibilities for birds is so limited.

3) American crows are common in my area. If I said I saw 3 or 5 or 10 crows yesterday I'd be believed without a speck of documentation of any kind; no questions asked. But if I said I saw 50,000 crows yesterday, it wouldn't be believable. Somewhere between 10 and 50,000 is a "tipping point" going from blind acceptance to questioning doubt to outright rejection of the claim. And there is no one magic number that all individuals would agree on as representing that tipping point. At root, much of the Ivory-billed debate is simply people perceiving different tipping points in viewing highly-imprecise evidence.

In summary:
Large creatures DO routinely remain hidden from human view in the forest. Behavior that sounds unlikely to entrenched human logic, may not be. And evidence is rarely as black-and-white as it is painted to be, but comes in shades of gray, not easily sorted out. Too often what skeptics put forth as evidence for Ivory-bill extinction is little more than non-scientific conjecture and preconceptions, and what they practice is not so much skepticism as it is the creation of doubt (not altogether dissimilar from what Holocaust or moon-landing or global-warming deniers do).

The Big Woods and Choctawhatchee final summaries from last season haven't even been issued yet; certain details from last season from other areas likely won't even be publicly released because skeptics have had a 'chilling effect' on the release of some kinds of info; and for the first time in 60+ years an actual semi-comprehensive approach to searching for IBWOs across the Southeast is at last getting underway... in short, the broad search for Ivory-bills is finally getting serious for the first time ever, and yet, before work is even completed, an all-knowing few have again proclaimed the species extinct and persuaded gullible others of that view.
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-- In Memoriam --

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In these days of slow Ivory-bill news, another diversion today... apologies in advance to those who only stop by here for IBWO news, or who have little interest in cagebirds:

Since the announcement last Friday of "Alex" the African Grey's sudden death I've watched with much interest the reactions of people as the news spread outward in concentric circles far and wide. Virtually every major news outlet has covered the story, and Alex just had his own obituary in the NY Times, a bird mind you; and on a day when Congressional hearings are reviewing the most important political story of the moment (the Iraq War and the American 'surge'), and also a day (Sept. 11) that is the anniversary of the worst attack ever on American soil, what is the most emailed story on both the NY Times and NPR websites (last time I checked): the death of Alex!! Meanwhile, on a 'Yahoo Group' memorial listserv for Alex, 100's of messages of condolence and grief stream in each day. It must be of some major comfort to Dr. Irene Pepperberg (his keeper of 30 years), who likely never imagined the number of people her work and her companion had touched.

Those of us who bear a strong innate interest/fascination with birds, often feel a bit oddball living amongst a majority whose passion tilts towards dogs or cats, or even inanimate objects like cars (do we have a gene mutation?); so it is heartening to witness this outpouring of shared emotion in such a public way over a bird; we do have company afterall. Be they parrots, or soaring raptors, or hummingbirds at our backyard feeders, or quacking ducks, or city pigeons bobbing for morsels at our feet, birds are wondrous creatures to behold, and their lives enrich ours.

To Dr. Pepperberg: may the profound grief engulfing you, be ever-so-slightly diminished by the multitude of people sharing it with you. And to Alex, wherever you are, may your spirit fly free in a place where rainbows shine, joy abounds, and Carolina Parakeets and Ivory-billed Woodpeckers still flap and sail in the breeze, right alongside you.
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-- But Enough About Ivory-bills --

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The current (Oct.) issue of Birder's World Magazine includes an article on the claimed Eskimo Curlew sighting last year in Nova Scotia (written by the observer):

http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/default.aspx?c=a&id=972

....maybe extinction ain't what it used to be!
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-- North Carolina Too --

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Independent searcher Jerry Condrey of North Carolina is convinced he saw two Ivory-bills in the Lake Waccamaw/Green Swamp region of N.C. (southeast corner, and not too far from Alexander Wilson's famous IBWO encounter of 200 years ago) a few years back, and plans to revitalize his search come January 2008, being assisted by Richard Lyttle (see prior post). He also indicates that some "high profile institutions" may be involved in the January search, as well.

Again, any emphasis on South and North Carolina is intriguing given decades of focus (what little focus there was) primarily on certain southern Gulf states. Still awaiting to hear from Cornell which regions other than Arkansas and S.C. they may concentrate on this coming season based on their Mobile Team's conclusions from the prior season.
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From the Web Grab Bag:

I feel compelled to mention for any who might be interested and haven't heard, that "Alex," Dr. Irene Pepperberg's African Grey Parrot/companion/work colleague was found dead in his cage unexpectedly on Friday of unknown causes. A press release is scheduled for Monday and a necropsy will seek the cause of death. Alex was the subject of much published research into animal learning and cognition, both in the professional and popular press, and Dr. Pepperberg's close companion for 30 years (longer than most marriages these days!). I presume some sort of memorial pages will soon be available on the Web, or anyone so inclined can send a contribution to:

The Alex Foundation
c/o Dr. Irene Pepperberg
Department of Psychology/MS-062
415 South Street
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02454
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-- South Carolina Searchin' --

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The official South Carolina Ivory-billed Woodpecker Working Group is seeking searchers for the next search season (beginning around mid-Nov.). See notice here:

http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/TNBD.html#1189105192

Also, in S.C., independent searcher Richard Lyttle continues to seek assistance, as well, in his efforts to document the species' presence there:

http://www.ibwsearches.com

On a sidenote, Auburn's Dr. Hill voices further optimism here.
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-- New Arkansas Times Article --

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New "Arkansas Times" article here:

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=6072a1a2-ddea-4e22-b652-bce0be55768e

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-- Of Interest --

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Helen Snyder reports that her ornithologist husband Noel's monograph "Causes of the Decline of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker" will soon be available from the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. She says it's not quite listed yet but will soon be among the monographs offered here:

http://www.wfvz.org/html/pub_prog.html

(estimated price $20; about 60 pgs. and should be excellent)

--- on a sidenote, a prior volume of Noel's, "The Carolina Parakeet: Glimpses of a Vanished Bird," may also be of interest to some.
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