Ivory-billed Woodpecker (formerly updates) (11 Viewers)

[dave_in_michigan]

"Equivocally irrefutable" seems to be a contradiction in terms but you are perhaps being facetious. We've all seen a few irrefutably equivocal photos.

Haha! Nice one!

 

[dacol]

Mystery bird #3 photo is a forgery.

I presume that by now everybody knows that the photo labeled Mystery bird #3 in the previous discussion is fake. For details see Bill Pulliam's blog
[ http://bbill.blogspot.com/ ].

Dalcio

 

[Jane Turner]

That does explain why it looked so like a Pileated!

 

[Apodemus]

In the parallel universe of IBWO there is probably a reasonable explanation for this. The photographer did actually see an IBWO in that position but wasn't quick enough to take a picture. He had two choices - fake a picture that represented the reality of what he saw, or miss out on the opportunity of presenting this amazing new evidence. Quite clearly, the second option would have been ridiculous, so of course he had to fake it.

 

[lockbreeze926]

Is Steve Sheridan (the admitted photo faker) the guy who reported "sightings" from way out of range (Indiana, I think) in the 70s or something similar?

 

[London Birder]

he faked it !

wtf!

 

[dave_in_michigan]

Is Steve Sheridan (the admitted photo faker) the guy who reported "sightings" from way out of range (Indiana, I think) in the 70s or something similar?

Yes, '70 and '78, southern Indiana near the Ohio River system, I believe.

He had a website (www.sheridanzoo.com/ivorybill.htm), but I see it's been pulled. Google has it cached, here.

And I notice that the entire www.ivorybillphotoproject.com site is completely pulled down now. Waiting for the other shoe to drop...

 

[timeshadowed]

I have not been visiting any IBWO sites lately and to say that I'm now speechless is an understatement!

My disappointment that someone whom I had respected would do something like this is beyond words.

I hope and pray that this action does not permanently harm the search for living IBWO's which I still believe exist out there somewhere in the deep swamps of the USA.

 

[salar53]

Is Steve Sheridan (the admitted photo faker) the guy who reported "sightings" from way out of range (Indiana, I think) in the 70s or something similar?

Well, except that even Indiana was not "way out of range".

In fact it is (was) not out of range at all. And Audubon stated that this bird usually "only" nested once per year in that rather northerly state.

 

[humminbird]

And Audubon stated that this bird usually "only" nested once per year in that rather northerly state.

Which is not unusual with any animal. Here in Texas Bluebirds nest twice, and often three times a year. In the north, more than one nesting is unusual.

 

[lockbreeze926]

Well, except that even Indiana was not "way out of range".

In fact it is (was) not out of range at all. And Audubon stated that this bird usually "only" nested once per year in that rather northerly state.

Way out of range for any alleged IBWO sightings in the 1970s, would you not agree?

 

[salar53]

Way out of range for any alleged IBWO sightings in the 1970s, would you not agree?

Who knows with any absolute certainty?
What is a fact that we as a species have collected too many Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, have shot too many of them, and have destroyed too much of their habitat.
Such impressive forests. Such magnificent birds.

 

[Johnny Allan]

I have not been visiting any IBWO sites lately and to say that I'm now speechless is an understatement!

My disappointment that someone whom I had respected would do something like this is beyond words.

I hope and pray that this action does not permanently harm the search for living IBWO's which I still believe exist out there somewhere in the deep swamps of the USA.

One hopes that money is not diverted from the study and protection of vulnerable or endangered species that are known, with certainty, to exist.

There is no reason why those with their own resources and belief in the continued existence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (despite the absence of irrefutable evidence for the past sixty odd years), should not continue to look. I wish them luck.

 

[pcoin]

Photo faking predicted in 2005

I presume that by now everybody knows that the photo labeled Mystery bird #3 in the previous discussion is fake. For details see Bill Pulliam's blog
[ http://bbill.blogspot.com/ ].

Dalcio

Wow, how time flies. I thought I had a hazy memory that the Blog-that-shall-not-be-named had predicted this. I had forgotten that it was way back in 2005:

Probability that some non-Cornell person will attempt a fairly high-profile hoax (using a fictitious story of a very impressive sighting record, a faked picture, a feather from a museum specimen, etc)--40%

Disclaimer: Before y'all start jumping all over me, I want to state, for the record, that I am politically rather liberal, usually vote Democratic, do not watch Fox News (or any other televised news for that matter--I prefer to read the on-line New York Times and Washington Post), am worried about anthropogenic climate change, et cetera, et cetera... In other words, just because I agree with the above-linked blogger on some issues does not mean people should think I agree with that person on other issues.

 

[cyberthrush]

Wow, how time flies. I thought I had a hazy memory that the Blog-that-shall-not-be-named had predicted this. I had forgotten that it was way back in 2005....

First, I'll vouch for the fact that PCoin doesn't much agree with the blogger-who's-name-is-best-left-unspoken-in-properly-polite-progressive-circles. ;-)

Having said that, it really didn't take much prophetic prescience to predict there would be a major hoax at some point, since there have been several hoaxes along the way... this one just became "high profile" because it made a splash on the internet for a week, while most others don't reach that threshold.
I'd also just add, that the faked picture was a single element (albeit the most discussed element) from a lone individual involved in a website that did include other evidence covering a 2+ yr. period, which may yet be re-posted once all the dust settles.

In totally separate news, Mike Collins has self-published (pdf) his paper "Flight Mechanics of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker" at his own website here, for anyone interested:

http://www.fishcrow.com/plos_manuscript.pdf

 

[pcoin]

March 2009 Cornell search team update/announces end of their search

Cornell has posted an update from the Mobile search team dated March 2009. (I did not see it the other day, so I believe it was just posted, probably today, Friday 27 March 2009.)

For the past two months, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s mobile search team has been plying the swamps, creeks, thickets, and hummocks of remote protected lands in Florida, looking for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. So far they have spent time in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.... The team has not documented an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in either location to date. They remain watchful and motivated, however, based on historical evidence of the ivory-bill’s existence in the area and large tracts of undisturbed habitat.​

(A series of very good photographs of all sorts of birds, their team, their houseboat, etc. is here, again, showing that the team has good photographers.)

I'm a little confused about the statement that they remain "watchful", because another Cornell update, announcing the 2008-09 search (dated 7 January 2009) said:

In mid-March the Cornell Lab of Ornithology team will join the South Carolina search along the Congaree, PeeDee, and Santee Rivers.​

So they apparently have already left Florida for South Carolina? Or do they have another team besides the mobile one?

That same document from 7 January says:

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-funded Ivory-billed Woodpecker searches will continue through the 2008-09 search season," says Laurie Fenwood, Ivory-billed Woodpecker Recovery Team Coordinator for the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service. "State search groups and non-government partners may continue additional active searches in the future."​

.... If no birds are confirmed, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology will not send an organized team into the field next year.​

So I am reading that to say two things:

1. The USFWS is not going to fund any further searching after this season
2. Cornell is not going to send out any more search teams unless a bird is confirmed this year. (And the search season would appear to be almost over.)

I found this statement by Cornell to be very telling:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology director John Fitzpatrick. “We will continue to accept and investigate credible reports of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, and to promote protection and restoration of the old growth conditions upon which this magnificent species depended across the entire southeastern United States.”​

He says depended--past tense. It looks like Fitzpatrick is admitting the bird is gone.

 

[lewis20126]

So are we nearing the point when any believers still left will..

..."eventually argue that the 2004 Arkansas Ivory-bill was the last of his kind--90%"

Anyone know an approximate total bill for this IBWO nonsense?

cheers, alan

 

[timeshadowed]

Mid-way down is the IBWO

http://stephenbodio.blogspot.com/2009/03/going-and-gone.html

Large Image here
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EZW-ODt3ByE/SdFDW4-1o6I/AAAAAAAABOY/wWaeQ0cYqMk/s1600-h/ivory-billed.jpg

 

[pcoin]

Four years later...

The very first post in this thread, from 18 May, 2005:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has launched a new website for
Ivory-billed woodpecker updates: http://www.fws.gov/ivorybill/

"This site will be updated regularly to include weekly updates of recovery activities and the latest recovery team information as it is developed. Inquiries should be referred to this site."

Four years after this announcement, not many updates are going on. Their last news release was September 26, 2007. As Cyberthrush notes:

..."official press releases" on the IBWO went from 10 in 2005, to 3 in 2006, to 1 in 2007, to zero in 2008 and thus far for 2009.​

The updates were never exactly "weekly", even in the halcyon (or Campephilyon) days of 2005. I think they assumed, as we all did, that a breeding population would be found promptly and there would be lots of activity to report.

I wonder when the USFWS will pull the plug on that site? My guess is that it will soon redirect to another page--something generic on Endangered Species--but who knows, maybe it will stay there forever.

Cornell's last update was 6 April 2009, talking about how they would go on to search in South Carolina. I wonder how that went? I wonder if they will ever even mention South Carolina again?
For that matter, they never released a final report on the 2007-08 search season. The link labeled 2007-08 search season summary from the updates page takes you to Searching New Habitat (7 January 2009), which talks about the start of the 2008-09 season. There is no mention of the 2007-08 season. Very odd.
If you go to a different part of the site (Current Search), a link does take you to a 2007-08 summary. However, as Cyberthrush has noted, there has never been a complete report on 2007-08 season released. The whole thing smacks of bureaucratic razzle-dazzle--the misleadingly labeled link, the burying of the 2007-08 summary in another part of the site. Amazing chutzpah.

Anybody want to take bets (for bragging rights only!) as to when the Ivory-billed material disappears from Cornell's site? I'm guessing in about six months, the url http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/ will suddenly redirect to some other page, something generic, such as their Lab Programs page. At that point, the Wayback machine will be the whole record of what went on.

Gosh, this sure has been disappointing. I believed it all for quite some time.

 

[Johnny Allan]

When I first heard the news of the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker there was no reason to disbelieve it and it was great news.

It wasn't until much later, when I discovered this thread, that I realised how tenuous the evidence was.

What has become of those who claimed multiple sightings of Ivory-billed Woodpecker at the beginning of this episode ? Have any of them made money from this ?