- Something New From M.Hendrickson -

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Mike Hendrickson has an 'update' of sorts at his "Mike's Soap Box Birding Blog" (go to the Jan. 10 entry) to the reports I posted a few days back from 'David Chaffin' of Tenn. of possible acoustic IBWO evidence in AR. -- depending on your perspective this is all very intriguing or further bizarre. Time will tell... (And I hope Mike, or Bob O'Dear, aren't disclosing more than they should have???)

Addendum (also Jan.10): and now another slightly intriguing post, this time from Mike McDowell on his blog, regarding a subtle change in a Laura Erickson post... maybe means nothing... maybe something. . .
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-- Nothing New On 'Nova' --

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If you missed the 'Nova ScienceNow' piece on PBS you can view it here... BUT, you didn't miss much. As I cautioned previously, in this necessarily very compressed treatment of the Ivory-bill story, there was nothing new reported nor any depth given to the arguments. Focus, as might be expected (in this video/audio-infatuated world), was on the Luneau clip and the 'kent' sounds recorded -- the very evidence I've consistently believed is the weakest (though still intriguing) in Cornell's arsenal.
Let me reiterate what WASN'T emphasized in this piece that I think bears repeating. FIRST there is simply the long history of repeated sightings of this bird over five decades, time and time and time again in various locales, no not confirmed, but repeated sightings by credible observers, probabilistically, MEAN SOMETHING!! -- they can't just be cavalierly blown off as non-existent by saying "never confirmed." Moreover, at least a few searchers had been wise enough to point to the Arkansas Big Woods area as a little-researched area of more-than-adequate habitat that could in fact support the species. SECOND, the specific number of initial credible sightings, 7-16, in a confined area is HUGE and would be difficult to dismiss as anything other than genuine under normal circumstances. Blithely explaining away these multiple sightings as "groupthink" is, in essence, to call the sighters and their interrogators, fools, despite their credentials. "Groupthink" is in fact what has occurred for the past 60 years by those declaring the species extinct based on NO solid evidence WHATSOEVER, and with little thorough reading of the thin literature available. THIRDLY, and largely overlooked, is the fact that many spotters immediately noted the large size of the bird seen as one of their first and major field marks; this is more important than any other field mark that could be witnessed other than the trailing white wing edges, which the sighters also concurred on. The FIRST thing any experienced birder would likely notice upon seeing an Ivory-billed Woodpecker would be the "Pileated-on-steroids" effect or "WHOOOAA"-factor. Yet little weight has been given to the consistency of this basic crucial field evidence, while picayunish details of little consequence have been belabored. (Again, the vast majority of bird ID's in the wild are made on the basis of a very few features and the 'jizz' of the bird -- one cannot suddenly change the criteria for this one species and claim any sighting not meeting the new criteria automatically lacks validity). One can only deal with probabilities, and if you consider the evidence of the last 50 years with an open, objective approach, instead of with a preconceived, biasing notion of extinction, then the probability is that Ivory-bills are in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and yes, Arkansas. When NO credible sightings/claims have occurred for 75 successive years THEN come talk to me about the likelihood of extinction... (of course by then I plan to be extinct myself).
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-- Nancy Tanner Visit --

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A Saturday post on Bill Thompson's blog recounts a recent visit to his and Julie Zickefoose's home from Nancy Tanner, widow of James Tanner, who accompanied her husband on two of his Ivory-bill expeditions, and was among the last folks to see the Singer Tract birds.

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/blog/2006/01/mrs-ivory-billed-woodpecker.html

Addendum: Julie did another followup post on Nancy's visit on Sunday.

http://www.juliezickefoose.com/blog/2006/01/mrs-tanner-gets-chetted.html
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-- D. Luneau's Field Note #1 --

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Ivory-bill principal David Luneau's first winter search field note on the Nature Conservancy website is now available at:

http://nature.org/ivorybill/current/art16915.html

I'm sorry to have to once again say there's not much real news here that wasn't already available, but am sure folks will want to keep up with David's field entries or any of the other searchers' reports that become available.
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-- AR. Report & 'Nova ScienceNow' --

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The following report from the Big Woods area was posted this morning on the Tennessee Bird Listserv:

" You could have blown me over with a single breath, but at about 4:30pm
Central yesterday during the first day of a 4 day trip, Bob O'Dear and I heard the
bird[IBWO] three times. Twice, it was the single high pitched shrill note, while
the third time, it was the rapid fire cadence call. We are staying at
Mallard Pointe Lodge and Reserve, the only private land adjacent to the restricted area. We have not heard the double pecking notes yet nor seen the bird, which I still think is a long shot, but I now feel better about our chances.
A very memorable #799 ABA.
Will send more details as time allows."

David Chaffin
Cleveland TN

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Without any sight confirmation, don't want to put too much weight on the above report, but we'll see if there's any follow-up.

Also, a reminder of the 'Nova ScienceNow' episode of PBS coming up Jan. 10 in most locales (check your local listings), which will include interviews with Dr. Fitzpatrick and Dr. Jackson regarding the Arkansas IBWO evidence (not sure how far in advance these interviews will have been taped -- unlikely to contain any fresh material not already available -- but always fun to watch scientists present their cases first-hand). And who knows when there might be breaking news; heck, the current overall silence emanating from Arkansas is almost intriguing in its own right...

And, this won't be everyone's cup-of-tea (but fascinating to me), among the other top stories of 2005 that Nova will report on is the story of a Univ. of San Jose mathematician's insights into a "2,300-year-old mystery surrounding prime numbers" which may help "solve the elusive 'twin prime conjecture.'" (even more elusive than Ivory-bills).
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-- For the Children --

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Terri Luneau (David's wife) has of course had a children's book on the Ivory-bill out for some time now, and recently IBWO-sighter Bobby Harrison also released a children's IBWO story. Now, more good news for the young set -- I hear that Lynne Cherry, conservationist and award-winning writer/illustrator of over 30 childrens' books (most famous probably for The Great Kapok Tree), is currently working on an Ivory-bill book for kids. No idea how soon it might be out, but it will no doubt get widespread attention and distribution.
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-- Just a Little Meditation --

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Just a bit of meditative thought while awaiting more news....

The following quote is from an old meditation piece on the web (and expresses a thought common in meditation practice):

"Breath is also powerful because we share the air we breathe with every creature that has ever lived. The breath I take in at this moment may contain molecules that Lincoln or Jesus or Susan Anthony or the Buddha or my great, great grandmother or a giant T-rex breathed in and out. Breathing is a powerful expression of the interdependent web of all life."

And then today I couldn't help but notice that Laura Erickson, preparing for her own venture to Arkansas Ivory-bill country, ended a post in a similar vein with the following words:

"...I'm both hopeful and joyful. Whether or not I see anything at all worth reporting, I'm going to be spending time in Ivory-bill habitat, breathing air molecules that may have touched an Ivory-bill's feathers or glittering eyes..."

Good luck Laura... and breathe deep!

And elsewhere on the web I stumbled upon this quite wonderful sermon from a Unitarian minister on the Ivory-bill, with this same theme of the interconnectedness of all life -- even more amazing, it was inspired solely by Phil Hoose's book and delivered "April 24, 2005," the Sunday BEFORE the announcement out of Arkansas that would shake the ornithological world -- talk about TIMING!... (if you're staying home from church this New Year's Sunday I recommend this piece as your Sunday sermon).


...oh yeah, and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!
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-- BirdLife Int'l. Year-end Report --

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The Ivory-billed Woodpecker... has company:

In their annual year-end review BirdLife International notes that several bird species were re-discovered in 2005 following decades of of absence:

"A number of birds were seen after decades without confirmed sightings, including the distinctive endemic Peruvian race of the endangered Southern Helmeted Curassow Crax unicornis koepckeae, not recorded since 1969. In Angola, the Orange-breasted Bush-shrike Laniarius brauni and White-headed Robin-chat Cossypha heinrichi (last seen in 1957), and the Black-tailed Cisticola Cisticola melanurus (last seen in 1972), were refound."

An interesting MSNBC report on the story (entitled, "Extinct Birds Are Making a Comeback") starts off as follows:

"Scientists beware: Don't count your extinct bird species, because one of them may hatch. Several supposedly extinct birds have recently been "rediscovered," raising hopes that others not seen for ages may still be taking to the skies. "The real message of rediscoveries is that we didn't look hard enough in the first place," said Nigel Collar of the British-based conservation group BirdLife International. "We think we've explored the planet when we haven't. We have this assumption that we know it all, but we don't."

....Amen
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-- Some More Views --

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Not too surprisingly, the Ivory-bill re-discovery has been ranked the #1 story of 2005 in cryptozoology at the site www.cryptomundo.com (...gotta love that URL name).

A somewhat interesting past post focussed on a Gene Sparling talk is at this site:

http://www.theageofpossibility.com/2005/12/11/wings-of-hope-or-despair/

Here's a bit from it to whet your appetite:

"When he returned from the trip, he posted a trip report on his canoe club’s web site. He told them about the beautiful spot, and made an oblique reference to what he’d seen. He wasn’t going to do anything more with the sighting, but a woman who read the report urged him on, telling him he had a duty to tell more people....
Sparling says that he almost let this amazing gift slip away “because I was too skeptical and cynical and afraid of being called a fool. I thought it was up to someone else to save the bird, that I wasn’t worthy of the task.”

“I learned two great lessons from this experience,” he continued. “I learned to believe that the most wonderful things can happen in this world. And I learned that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact, beyond our wildest dreams.”

After Sparling concluded his tale, I leaped up—along with everybody else—to give him an enthusiastic standing ovation."

Finally, for a slightly different take on the Ivory-bill search area in Arkansas take a look at this Tenn. "swamper's" account from a recent day's visit to the Big Woods:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/bill_bill/101176.html
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-- Mo' Readin' --

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Some more details on strategies being employed by Cornell during the winter search are available from one of the searchers here, and another more general Cornell newswire report is here.
And in case Ivory-bill news is just not enough for ya, turns out that now the Dodo has been rediscovered!... well, sort of... the bones of about 20 specimens of this little-understood flightless species have recently been found on the island of Mauritius -- quite a significant find actually. Read all about it. (...at least they're claiming they're Dodo bones; since there have never been any photos or videotape of Dodoes I'm not sure we can be certain the species ever really existed ; - )))
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-- Upcoming, Friday Afternoon --

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Cornell reports that their Conservation Science Director, Ken Rosenberg, will be a guest on NPR's "Science Friday" Fri. afternoon, Dec. 23, from 2:00 to 3:00 P.M. (or whenever it plays in your area). With him on the air will be Audubon's Geoff LeBaron discussing Christmas Bird Counts and how the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been added back to the list for the first time in many decades... but will anyone have the audacity to report it and face an inquisition?
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-- More On IBWO vs. PIWO Beak Gouging --

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"Fangsheath" on BirdForum has recently posted the following data from his own testing of Ivory-bill vs. Pileated tree gouging, coinciding more-or-less with ongoing work being done by Steve Holzman and Paul Sykes (see "Ivory-bill/Pileated Grooves" past post in left-hand side-bar). This is a new line of study which will hopefully prove helpful in the field at some point (if not already) :

"I have now completed synthetic beaks representing the largest published southern pileated and smallest published northern ivory-bill. With these and my previously fabricated beaks representing the averages for each species have have been gouging away in balsa wood. Here are the results for gouge width (n= 20 gouges for each data set). Five width measurements were taken on each gouge and averaged.

average pileated - mean = 2.93 mm, range = 2.44-3.40 mm
largest pileated - mean = 3.50 mm, range = 2.85-4.04 mm
smallest ivory-bill - mean = 4.20 mm, range = 3.74-4.64 mm
average ivory-bill - mean = 4.40 mm, range = 3.77-5.25 mm

From these studies I would expect some species overlap in gouge width on individual gouges, but this appears to be eliminated by measuring at least 10 gouges and averaging. To be safe I would recommend measuring 20 gouges. I understand that some people are searching for ivory-bills as far north as Illinois and Indiana (which I think is perfectly reasonable). The pileateds up there may be larger and gouge width correspondingly greater for that species. However, the wider gouges produced by ivory-bill beak are not merely due to its larger size, but especially the result of its distinctive flat-sided shape.

I reiterate that gouges consistently greater than 3.5 mm should be regarded as suspicious, those greater than 4.0 mm should be regarded as highly suspicious, particularly if accompanied by unusual sign such as scaling of very tight-barked trees or excavation of still-living trees."

Possibly some of you out there, depending on where you live, can start putting this sort of info to use immediately!
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-- Dear Virginia... --

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The end of year is always a time for Top 10 Lists, so here goes....

--- Top 10 Reasons Why the Skeptics (Grinches?) are Wrong :

10. They forever underestimate the density, vastness, and inaccessibliity of the areas in need of searching.
9. They don't comprehend that large-scale, organized searches have never been conducted for this bird (Pearl River having been the largest, and now most of those participants saying it too was inadequate). You can't find something that isn't adequately and meaningfully looked for. (Skeptics think lots of individuals on their own meandering around the woodland over time constitute adequate searching.)
8. They presume there have been no sightings during the past 60 years simply because none of the 100s of reports to come in (let alone those sightings never turned in, in part, because of the ridicule people fear from skeptics) have been verified with clear photographic evidence -- has any other creature with so many claimed sightings, been so quickly written off as extinct -- it's easy to deny the existence of anything if you simply deny the validity of every report of it turned in.
7. They fail to appreciate the adaptability, tenaciousness, and instincts of long-lived creatures, perceiving them as simple automatons subservient to human analysis and prognostication.
6. They place tremendous trust in the unverified and often tentative conclusions/generalizations of a single grad student from 70 years ago and think them applicable to all Ivory-bills in all locales, while distrusting the claims of all other sighters since the 1950s.
5. They fail to understand that a bird which routinely perches high in tree canopies can see a human approaching long before the human sees it, and depart in an opposite direction... again and again and again and...
4. They don't realize that a bird inside a treehole (where IBWOs spend a fair amount of time) is completely invisible to human sight (...except for Clark Kent's).
3. There have been too many credible reports since the 1950s, not to mention the verified sightings in nearby Cuba in the late 1980s, for all of them to be shrugged off. Extinction, like the death penalty, should never be declared when 'reasonable doubt' (of extinction) still lingers.
2. They greatly overestimate the ease with which photographic evidence can be obtained. Most IBWO spotters of the past likely lacked cameras. Especially underestimated is the difficulty of photographing quick-moving objects in dense habitat, or of getting close enough to a bird even of IBWO-size to snap clear photos -- requires close proximity or telephoto lens (not to mention stealth, good light, quickness, balance, luck...). Tanner only got pics of IBWO in a locale where an experienced guide was able to lead him to them -- in his 3-year search, despite believing they still existed in both S.C. and Fla., without such a guide, Tanner, for all his supposed expertise, could neither find them nor photograph them.

1. Finally, if there are no more Ivory-bills out there then next thing you know Virginia, people will be saying there is no Santa Claus either!!! =: - 0
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-- This and That --

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Recent Washington Post article on the AR. search here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/19/AR2005121901218.html

The U.S. Gov't. never officially declared the Ivory-bill extinct, but that apparently didn't constrain the American Birding Association from designating the bird "extinct" at some point, for they now say they won't change their listing until there is "unequivocal proof that the species still exists." (For starters, "unequivocal proof" is a redundancy, what they mean is "unequivocal evidence" -- there is no such thing as scientific "proof" -- even mathematical 'proof' relies on UNprovable, axiomatic assumptions, as do ALL scientific beliefs, but enough semantics). However, ABA adds that if you think you saw one (an IBWO) it's fine with them if you go ahead and count it -- whewww, I'm sure Gene, Tim, and Bobby were much relieved to hear that! (or is there some sort of doublespeak going on here...?)

Lastly, new blog on the block: Although I read several off-and-on, I don't usually plug other blogs here, as most of them (including this one) have a sort of inconsistent quality that makes me hesitate -- also, there are none that serve the very narrow focus/purposes of this blog. But.... many of you know Julie Zickefoose from her always wonderful nature writings and artwork (principally for Birdwatchers' Digest, which her husband edits), and she has started her own blog, which I believe (once she hits her stride) will be a wonderful place to start (or end) the day with that morning (or evening) cup of coffee. A-a-and she's a long-time Ivory-bill enthusiast to boot!! -- If you've never read this piece she wrote several years ago, before the current IBWO-fever, by all means give it a look. She has a great knack for being informative and entertaining at the same time.

http://www.juliezickefoose.com/blog/

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-- Re-discovery Anniversary --

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Y'all are invited to the "Ivory-billed Woodpecker Re-discovery Celebration" at the Brinkley Convention Center in Brinkley, AR., Feb. 23-25. Speakers, tours, vendors, seminars, field trips, and "celebration cake" (but hopefully, NO Ivory-bill stew)... :

http://www.ivory-bill-woodpecker.com/ivory-billed-convention.htm

...and if you haven't already seen it, "Birdchick" has posted a bit of the flavor of the town of Brinkley at her blog:

http://www.birdchick.com/2005/12/brinkley-its-helluva-town.html
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-- AP Wire Story & More J. Jackson --

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Another AP wire story on the ongoing search here.

Jerry Jackson is due to have a 'revised' version of his Ivory-bill book out next spring (can Phil Hoose be far behind???)... of course with any luck by then there might be enough documentation of IBWOs in various locales to require a revised 'revised' version!!! Jackson will be searching himself this winter in potential Ivory-bill habitat in Florida (where he works), certainly as likely a place to find the birds as AR. As previously noted, he and John Fitzpatrick will appear on an episode of PBS's 'Nova' in January, to offer their contrasting views (from separate interviews) on the state of the IBWO controversy. And also the Jan. 2006 edition of The Auk journal will reportedly have a lengthy paper by Jackson on the IBWO issues. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was all a moot point by then.... (but if not, the more active, and promising, breeding season, ~ Feb.- Apr., is not too far off).
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-- 4th ! --

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I was (pleasantly) surprised a month ago when I heard that an upcoming 'Nova' edition would list the discovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker as one of the top 10 science stories of 2005. Now, the latest edition of Discover Magazine (Jan. 2006, pg. 31) lists the discovery of the Ivory-bill in Arkansas as its 4th TOP science story for 2005! Even I'M skeptical of THAT ranking -- I guess for those of us who have known all along that the bird was out there, the story seems big, just not THAT BIG!!
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-- Another Idea... --

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As many of you know helicopters and small planes have often been used in the past to search for Ivory-bills by flying over large land tracts and watching for the birds to flush out of the forest canopy (in theory, viewing their size, shape, color pattern from overhead should make them easier to ID than spying from ground level) -- the counter possibility is that overhead airplane noise may cause the birds to hunker down and be less mobile. Anyway, a poster on the Arkansas bird listserve today offers a different approach I've not heard proposed before:

"Has anyone considered using hot air balloons in the search for IBWO's? Seems like it would be more effective than helicopters which were used in Louisiana. One could quietly drift over the Big Woods at low elevation covering a lot of ground. Cameras could be mounted on the bottom of the basket for constant filming as one drifted. When something flushed below it would be caught on film. Of course the winds would have to be just right to take you in the direction you want to go. Also, the balloon could be colored the same as the sky (blue for clear days, white for cloudy) to help camouflage it. Balloons could also be used as stationary observation posts that could be moved around to different places and raised and lowered to give the best view of an area. This would make an incredible observation platform as the balloon would be tethered to the ground and raised and lowered as needed."

I don't know enough about hot air ballooning to know if this is as practical, safe, or easy as it sounds, but seemed like an interesting thought.

Follow-up: David Luneau has responded with this note:

"Hot air balloons have been discussed as have ultralight aircraft. Some
ultralights may be used to fly some transects. (They are the ultralights
from the Whooping Crane migration.) With hot air balloons not only are you
at the mercy of the wind, but they are not as quiet for the operator as they
would seem. The periodic fiery blasts are quite noisy.
A helium balloon might be a good idea. Does anyone still fly them (besides
the big ones used by Goodyear, Fuji, etc.)?"

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