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Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Possibility (1 Viewer)

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Widowmaker

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I was at my parents getting some images the other day and was shooting a Redheaded Woodpecker. I described it to my Dad as I was shooting and he commented that he saw it frequently. I let him look in the Extend-A-View and he said that this was not the bird he had been seeing. He said the one he was referring to was larger, had the white shield on the back but had a red crest. I wanted to identify the one I was shooting so I got a book. My dad was looking with me and he pointed out the Ivory-Bill Woodpecker as the one he has been seeing. I got home and looked up this bird and according to what I have read, the last confirmed sightining was in the 1940s in North Louisiana, right next door to where we are located.

My sister lives about 100 yards from my parents. I was chatting on yahoo with her and mentioned that I wanted to get some woodpecker shots. She said there was a Pileated Woodpecker that came to the woods between our parents and her house. I didnt mention anything and snapped a shot from my guide that showed the pileated and ivory-bill. The names were not visible. She messaged back and said "it is the pilleated with the white on its back, the one on the left" , which is the Ivory Bill.

Would this be a significant find or has there been a change in the status of the ivory-bill that I am not aware of? Regardless I am going to visit often and try to get a photo. I asked my sister to try to get a shot for me when she sees it again.
 
It would definitley be a significant find and if you were able to photograph it, you would be famous in the bird world! There was a very ambitious expedition in search of the Ivory Billed several months ago. They got some audio recordings that they thought might be ivory billeds drumming, but it turned out that the sounds were gun shots. Here is a link to a really good website that has tons of info about the ivory-billed:

http://www.birdingamerica.com/Ivorybill/ivorybilledwoodpecker.htm

Now, go find that woodpecker ;)
 
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This would be the most significant find in N. Am ornithology in recent times. Enormous amounts of time and money have gone into trying to find this species in recent years, it is currently presumed extinct. A photograph would probably provide you with enough revenue to retire on!

Spud
 
I would keep your location totally secret and if you do confirm the birds identity contact your national bird conservation organisation directly and liaise with them - if it is confirmed and word of the location gets out you will have birders not only from all over the USA but the World coming to get a glimpse.

Sadly egg collectors would be after the bird as much as genuine birders. The collectors have no morals whatsoever in matters like this.

Perhaps one of our USA BF members could tell you who you should contact if you get a picture
 
The local chapter of the Audubon Society would probably be the best initial contact and if confirmed they would liase with the Fisheries and Wildlife Service I guess.

Do they have egg-collectors in the USA? I thought it was a mainly British disease.

Spud
 
True Spud, and within Britain I regret to say substantially in my area (specifically Middlesboro' to Blyth seems the be the main infected area), but these dick-heads will travel a long way, including internationally, to despoil other areas.

Then there's another breed of a*s-hole which deliberately shoots rare birds just to antagonise conservationists.

Michael
 
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Im not getting my hopes up but I am a bit excited at the possibility. With both pointing out the size, the crest and the white shield, it sounds promising. My only other guess would be that they have seen a Pileated Woodpecker and a Redheaded Woodpecker and are just recalling the features of both.
 
Well the odds are against it Widowmaker but it would be rather nice.

Have you shown them pictures of Bachman's Warbler or Eskimo Curlew at all?

Spud
 
This would be roughly the ornithological equivalent of finding the Rosetta Stone inside the Titanic.

Yeah, for heaven's sake, if this does have anything to it, keep your mouth shut, except to get a professional (truly professional) opinion on ID!

Audubon would be a great first contact, but you might also consider the ornithology folks at LSU in Baton Rouge, where they have a highly regarded biology department -- it was a student from there who heard the calls a few years ago while in the Pearl River area (the Singer Tract) that began the searching a year ago that resulted in the audio tapes.

Another possibility for a first contact would be the folks at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University in New York state.

Still another first contact might be the Paxtuent lab of the United State Geological Survey in Maryland. They maintain incredible identification databases of North American wildlife.

Or the Smithsonian.

Ivory-bill calls were recorded back in the 40s -- Cornell may have those tapes, or the Smithsonian, Patuxent or the Library of Congress.

There is some thinking that says the Ivory-Bill might still exist on the eastern end of Cuba -- I believe sightings were made there in the 80s.

Now, if we could only find some more Imperial Woodpeckers!
 
The chances of it being an Ivory-billed Woodpecker are about the same as the chances of me finding a Thylacine - i.e., a million to one against is optimistic. But be sure to check it out: it would be the biggest find in birding since .... well ... since I can't think what. Some of the most assuredly extinct species have turned up years later alive and well. As mentioned above, don't tell anyone bar the bird society, and even there pick your confidant.
 
Re: Cuba records.

I believe a recent survey failed to find any and most of the forest in the area where they/it was reported has been cleared or degraded.


Spud
 
Although it is highly unlikely that Ivory-billed Woodpeckers still exist in the United States, it is not outside the realm of possibility that they do.

I think I recall something about an ibis species that was thought to be extinct, but a few were found somewhere not too long ago? Was it in Turkey? I just can not remember for certain. Another sign of the "ageing process" taking its toll!

Larry
 
Hi Larry,

That was the Bald Ibis - never thought to be extinct (as there's a well-known surviving colony in Morocco), but in the eastern part of its range it was thought to have died out (previously also nested in southern Turkey), then last year, three pairs were found in Syria. There is also a re-introduction experiment currently under way in central Europe (Austria or Switzerland, I forget which), and plenty of them in zoos.

Michael
 
Gurney's Pitta was long thought to be confined to really just one spot in S. Thailand before it was recently discovered in Burma. However, whilst it is likely that new species are found in relatively little birded countries (Vietnam, Burma, etc.) it seems somewhat unlikely that Ivory-billed Woodpecker could go unnoticed in the USA.
 
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