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Possible Ivory Billed Woodpecker Sighting in East Texas (1 Viewer)

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burningsupper

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Hi. This is my first post, I found this website on a search engine. On Easter Sunday there was a large bird resembling the Ivory Billed in my yard, down next to my pond. My daughter and I accidentally startled it and it flew away. I was amazed at what a large wingspan it had. It eventually came back and flew away again. Today I came across and article with a picture of the Ivory Billed and that bird resembled it completely.

Now, for some background on where we live. We live in East Texason seven acres of pasture land. We are surrounded by forest, some has been clear cut, most of the forest around us is used for deer lease. We are one of the last three houses on our road for about six miles. Basically, its a birding/wildlife paradise. This is all new to me, I had hung out two feeders for the wild birds, and enjoy watching them, but other than that I don't know a whole lot. I think tomorrow I will take a camera down to the swamp , and into the woods and see if I can spot it again. Had I known it was such a rarity I would have tried to have gotten a picture then. If anyone has any ideas on how or where to look, please contact me!! Thanks for your help!
 
Tervetuloa to Birdforum with such a meganews, Burningsupper!
Are You sure it was not Dryocopus pileatus with black secondaries? (That is a way more common). -Here was vigorous Campephilus discussion some months ago.
 
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Burningsupper,
If you found an Ivory-billed woodpecker, DON'T tell anyone where you live. You'll be mobbed with folks wanting to know where to find it. It is believed to be extinct. If you do a site search here you'll find a rather long chain on this same subject.

You might also want to check a field guide or search on the Birdforum gallery or Google for a Pileated Woodpecker, another very large woodpecker, about 18" to 20" and is found in East Texas. I suspect that this would be what you saw.

Good luck with your photos and please post them here for confirmation.
 
Burningsupper, an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker differs from a Pileated not only by size and bill color, but also in the pattern of the white stripe. On a Pileated, the stripe goes down the neck and chest area. On an Ivory-Billed, the stripe also goes down the neck, but takes a backside approach.

here's a link to a picture comparing the two. Please let us know which is yours.
woodpecker_platte_w524pix.jpg
 
Also, please heed Dave's warning about location give-aways. There are some types of birders who mean more harm than good. Some of these bad people shoot the birds dead (in attempts to make conservationists look bad). The other bad people swipe the eggs from nests and display them in places i've never been to... (looks paranoid)...

EDIT: However, if it's alright with mods, maybe you can PM a fellow Texan to confirm (and/or photograph) the "Ivory-Bill".
 
Hi burningsupper,

We all want to know the background on your name. Did you pick it or was it voted in by everyone at your table?

Welcome to Bird Forum from Admin and Moderators. As you found, a question brings quick results!

You would make our year here if indeed you had an Ivory-bill WP.

A Pileated Woodpecker is a great sighting, and a great tic on your bird list. Looking forward to seeing your pics in the Gallery!

Spend some time checking the Forums, Gallery, a wealth of information at your finger tips!

Regards, Screech
 
Hey Screech, My dad claims he saw a pileated woodpecker in our backyard (and has the picture to prove it), however, I have not seen it at all, ever since it was first spotted back in January/February...
 
Great sighting gthang! Before moving to Nj I lived in Millbrook, NY, not far from you. Pileated were frequent visitors to our suet log. Nothing like the Hudson Valley! I had many great birding days, this time of the year we always listened for the drumming Ruffed Grouse and at twilight for the peenting of the Woodcock and their aerial flights.
If you get a chance, try to locate some in your area. Their there, you just have look, listen for them! Good luck....
 
Screech, I didn't see it! My Dad saw it but we haven't been able to see it since. As usual tons of birds here in my big backyard!

I live in Stormville, have you ever been there? Route 52 just north of the Putnam border with Dutchess county?

OH, yeah, forgot to mention: The time we took a hike behind the pond at the end of my street, my dad heard this jackhammer-loud drumming. Must've been hell trying to sleep through that... (of course, i'm hearing-impaired, so I wouldn't know! LOL!)

Regarding Ruffed Grouse: Yeah I've seen one in my garage, dead, with pieces of glass embedded in it...
 
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Burningsupper,
I'm sure it was probably a pileatus. The Ivory-billed pretty much loved old growth Cypress swamps. I have some museum skins and mounted specimens somewhere in my database if you need to see them.
 
Hi, and thanks to everyone who has responded! I can assure you I will never tell anyone what part of East Texas I am from, and believe me, unless you had directions you would never find me! LOL!! I will look at the pictures and see if I can tell which it was that landed in the yard. Like I said, I really have no idea, and it could possibly have been the more common variety. I do know that it had the black and white on its wings when its wings were spread open. I have not looked at the pictures to compare the two, so I don't know if that helps any. Oh, and yes, I will explain my screen name. It's really good for a laugh or two. My husband used to be a ranch manager. I would always cook lunch for the boys and they would tease me about setting the smoke alarms off every day and thats how they knew it was time to eat. One day I had some taco shells in the oven, to make them crisper, and forgot about them. They caught on fire. I took the pan out of the oven, with the intent to drop them in the sink. I was afraid I would catch the wallpaper on fire, so I thought, well, its not too far to the front door, so I walked really fast thru the living room, with a flaming pan of taco shells. The flames came toward me because I was walking so fast, and I tilted the pan. The flaming taco shells then dropped in the middle of my living room floor, and I caught the carpet on fire. As far as I know, I'm the only person who has ever caught their living room carpet on fire with flaming taco shells. :)... I am actually a really good cook, lol but I guess we all have our moments!! Thanks again, and I look forward to being a member on here!!
 
Oh, boy! makes me glad i can't cook unless there's instructions... lol!

Hope you got that carpet replaced. one time when I was younger, I killed an ant in our basement/family tv room, and we have a portable heater that we use down there for keeping us warm while we watch the televizzle. so anyway, i turned the heater on, and placed the thing down on top of the dead ant, in hope that it would catch fire and delight li'l ol' me. Turns out I forgot about it, and when i smelled smoke, I realized that I left the heater on, and left a scorch pattern that we now cover with a throw-down rug...
 
Stripes on back

cuckooroller said:
Burningsupper,
I'm sure it was probably a pileatus. The Ivory-billed pretty much loved old growth Cypress swamps. I have some museum skins and mounted specimens somewhere in my database if you need to see them.
Click to expand...
I would like to let y'all know that when I lived in east texas, back in the woods ( maybe 5 miles outside the border ) I on several occasions saw this huge woodpecker, then began researching it. I found out that it was either the pileatus or the ivory-billed. The next time I saw it I paid special attention to the back area, and yes it was striped. The Ivory Billed Woodpecker still does exist in East Texas. If anyone knows anything about protecting birds let me know. I have never seen more than one of these magnificant birds at one time. I don't know if its the same bird or not, I never saw any juveniles. I don't know what the lifespan is for this bird, but I lived there 7 years and recently have been back out there (last weekend ) and I heard the familiar loud tap tap,,,after looking up there it was. What an awesome feeling, being able to see an " extinct" bird in my own backyard!
 
Welcome to BF jinx, interesting post, Get yourself a picture and you'll get the keys to Whichever bank you want!!! But I think your mistaken.
 
funny

Steve said:
Welcome to BF jinx, interesting post, Get yourself a picture and you'll get the keys to Whichever bank you want!!! But I think your mistaken.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the welcome Steve. I am not interested in the money, I would much rather see the bird possibly be saved from true extinction. However next time I go out to my old house ( possibly this coming weekend) I will take a picture when I see the bird, then you can judge for yourself. It is a huge woodpecker that resembles every picture of the Ivory Billed woodpecker I've seen, the most noticible variation between the more common variety and it being the white markings on the back. Its funny, I've never been much of a birdwatcher before, but now I am dead set on getting a picture of this bird for the people of BF :t:
 
Jinx,
I'm certain you understand the why of the edit. I also, requested it, in the off-chance that you could be right. Let's see a good pic and then we'll see what it really is. If it's not pileatus then it's time to be hush-hush and contact the right people and not put out location on a public forum. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed.
 
Sorry for me being the "party-killer"! I consider myself an optimist, but even I wouldn't dare hoping for an Ivory-billed surviving in the US. I know there are a few places in Cuba not completely surveyed yet. That may be another case...

Still, I will join the rest of the birding world, and hope the birds people mention in this thread are infact Ivory-billed. What an amazing discovery that would be, and how important it would be to keep the exact location secret...! It would be the discovery of the decade, perhaps shared with those re-discovered storm-petrels from New Zealand or that new parrot from Brazil.

So, I'll be waithing for that photo...
 
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