Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt

Subject: Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt
From: Peter T.
Date: 19 Feb 02 - 08:54 PM

The last confirmed sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker was over 50 years ago, though in 1999 a student at Louisiana State University, David Kulivan, gave a pretty serious description of a pair he had sighted. An intensive search is now underway in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area (SE Louisiana, about 30 miles by 5 of swampy forest) for this elusive, possibly extinct, possibly not, bird. You can follow the search every day at: www.zeiss.com, which is the entry point for daily reports from the teams who are roaming the woods for 30 "good-weather days" beginning Jan 17. Time is beginning to run short for this search!

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt
From: Allan C.
Date: 19 Feb 02 - 10:15 PM

"The last confirmed sighting..." perhaps, but only in the continental U.S., I believe, Peter. I think some were seen in Puerto Rico more recently than that. I will try to find a resource concerning this.

Subject: RE: Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 01:33 AM

Old friend Flawn Williams was just down there with an NPR crew covering the search. I've not heard his take on this yet.

Art

Subject: RE: Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt
From: Peter T.
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 08:17 AM

There was a sighting in Cuba in 1986 I think. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt
From: MMario
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 08:45 AM

The 1986 sighting was in Cuba. Searches in '91 and '93 revealed no signs of continued population.

Subject: RE: Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt
From: Wolfgang
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 09:26 AM

Kulivan's sighting was on April, 1st, 1999. What I mean? Nothing, I just wanted to add the exact date.

Ivory-billed woodpecker's call and drumming (recorded in 1935)

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Tension Mounts:The Ivory Woodpecker Hunt
From: KathWestra
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 12:59 PM

As someone who greatly enjoys birds (although I don't classify myself as a capital-B Birder),I have really mixed feelings about this search for an undeniably spectacular bird. Last year, when a snowy owl (not a particularly rare bird, but rare in Maryland) made its appearance in a farm field about an hour north of Washington, DC, birders forgot both manners and good sense in their quest to see this relatively easy-to-see visitor. Annoyed the residents, scared the bird.

While it would delight my heart to know that there are still ivory-billed woodpeckers on the planet, at the same time I cringe at the thought that the search team may actually find them -- and that the hordes will descend, trying to lure the birds with taped calls, trampling the vegetation ..... All too often, the quest for a Life Bird causes the birding ethics espoused by the American Birding Association to fly right out the window.