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Cornell University News Service - Long thought extinct, ivory-billed
woodpecker rediscovered in Big Woods of Arkansas. Multiple sightings, video
footage show bird survives in vast forested areas
[img]http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:J8PFLfJbSPAJ:www.cryptokeeper.com/BILLPIL.JPG[/img]
BRINKLEY, Ark. - Long believed to be extinct, a magnificent bird - the
ivory-billed woodpecker - has been rediscovered in the Big Woods of eastern
Arkansas. More than 60 years after the last confirmed sighting of the
species in the United States, a research team today announced that at least
one male ivory-bill still survives in vast areas of bottomland swamp forest.
Published in the journal Science on its Science Express Web site (April 28,
2005), the findings include multiple sightings of the elusive woodpecker and
frame-by-frame analyses of brief video footage. The evidence was gathered
during an intensive year-long search in the Cache River and White River
national wildlife refuges involving more than 50 experts and field
biologists working together as part of the Big Woods Conservation
Partnership, led by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell
University and The Nature Conservancy.
"The bird captured on video is clearly an ivory-billed woodpecker," said
John Fitzpatrick, the Science article's lead author, and director of the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. "Amazingly, America may have another
chance to protect the future of this spectacular bird and the awesome
forests in which it lives."
"It is a landmark rediscovery," said Scott Simon, director of The Nature
Conservancy's Arkansas chapter. "Finding the ivory-bill in Arkansas
validates decades of great conservation work and represents an incredible
story of hope for the future."
Joining the search team at a press conference in Washington DC, Secretary of
the Interior Gale Norton announced a Department of the Interior initiative
to identify funds for recovery efforts.
Through its cooperative conservation initiative, the Fish and Wildlife
Service has a variety of grant and technical aid programs to support
wildlife recovery.
"These programs are the heart and soul of the federal government's
commitment to cooperative conservation. They are perfectly tailored to
recover this magnificent bird," Secretary Norton said. "Across the Nation,
these programs preserve millions of acres of habitat, improve riparian
habitat along thousands of miles of streams and develop conservation plans
for endangered species and their habitat."
The largest woodpecker in North America, the ivory-billed woodpecker is
known through lore as a bird of beauty and indomitable spirit. The species
vanished after extensive clearing destroyed millions of acres of virgin
forest throughout the South between the 1880s and mid-1940s.
Although the majestic bird has been sought for decades, until now there was
no firm evidence that it still existed.
The rediscovery has galvanized efforts to save the Big Woods of Arkansas,
550,000 acres of bayous, bottomland forests and oxbow lakes. According to
Simon, The Nature Conservancy has conserved 18,000 acres of critical habitat
in the Big Woods, at the request of the partnership, since the search began.
"It's a very wild and beautiful place," Simon said.
The Search and the Evidence
While kayaking in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge on Feb. 11, 2004,
Gene Sparling of Hot Springs, Ark., saw an unusually large, red-crested
woodpecker fly toward him and land on a nearby tree. He noticed several
field marks suggesting the bird was an ivory-billed woodpecker.
A week later, after learning of the sighting, Tim Gallagher, editor of the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Living Bird magazine, and Bobby Harrison,
associate professor at Oakwood College, Huntsville, Ala., interviewed
Sparling. They were so convinced by his report that they traveled to
Arkansas and then with Sparling to the bayou where he had seen the bird.
On Feb. 27, as Sparling paddled ahead, a large black-and-white woodpecker
flew across the bayou less than 70 feet in front of Gallagher and Harrison,
who simultaneously cried out: "Ivory-bill!" Minutes later, after the bird
had disappeared into the forest, Gallagher and Harrison sat down to sketch
independently what each had seen. Their field sketches, included in the
Science article, show the characteristic patterns of white and black on the
wings of the woodpecker.
"When we finished our notes," Gallagher said, "Bobby sat down on a log, put
his face in his hands and began to sob, saying, 'I saw an ivory-bill. I saw
an ivory-bill.'" Gallagher said he was too choked with emotion to speak.
"Just to think this bird made it into the 21st century gives me chills. It's
like a funeral shroud has been pulled back, giving us a glimpse of a living
bird, rising Lazarus-like from the grave," he said.
The sightings by Sparling, Gallagher and Harrison led to the formation of a
search team, which later became the Big Woods Conservation Partnership. On
April 5, 10 and 11, three different searchers sighted an ivory-bill in
nearby areas. The views were fleeting, leaving little opportunity to take
photographs.
David Luneau, associate professor at the University of Arkansas at Little
Rock, said he thought the best chance to film the elusive bird would be to
have a camcorder on at all times. On April 25, Luneau captured four seconds
of video footage showing an ivory-billed woodpecker taking off from the
trunk of a tree.
Frame-by-frame analyses show a bird perched on a tupelo trunk, with a
distinctive white pattern on its back. During 1.2 seconds of flight, the
video reveals 11 wing beats showing extensive white on the trailing edges of
the wings and white on the back. Both of these features distinguish the
ivory-billed woodpecker from the superficially similar, and much more
common, pileated woodpecker.
On three occasions, members of the search team heard series of loud
double-raps, possibly the ivory-billed woodpecker's display drumming. On
Feb. 14, 2005, Casey Taylor of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology heard the
drumming for 30 minutes, then watched as an ivory-billed woodpecker, being
mobbed by crows, flew into view.
In addition, autonomous recording units detected sounds, among thousands of
hours of recordings, which resembled double-raps and possible calls of the
ivory-bill - reminiscent of the sound of a tin horn. Researchers say ongoing
analyses of the recordings have not yet enabled them to rule out other
potential sound sources, such as the calls of blue jays, which are notorious
mimics.
In all, during more than 7,000 hours of search time, experienced observers
reported at least 15 sightings of the ivory-bill, seven of which were
described in the Science article. Because only a single bird was observed at
a time, researchers say they don't yet know whether more than one inhabits
the area.
So far, the search team has focused its efforts in approximately 16 of the
850 square miles in the bottomland forests of Arkansas. Fitzpatrick of the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology said that the next step will be to broaden the
search to assess whether breeding pairs exist and how many ivory-bills the
region may support. To expand the area being monitored and minimize
disturbance to the endangered woodpecker, the team will continue to use
acoustic monitoring technologies as well as on-the-ground searching.
Fitzpatrick said the team will also encourage others to search for the
ivory-bill elsewhere in suitable habitats throughout the South.
Simon of The Nature Conservancy said that over the years, state and federal
agencies, conservation organizations, hunters and landowners have
aggressively worked to conserve and restore the bottomland hardwood and
swamp ecosystem. "Now we know we must work even harder to conserve this
critical habitat - not just for the ivory-billed woodpecker, but for the
black bears, waterfowl and many other species of these unique woods," he
added.
The partnership's 10-year goal is to restore 200,000 more acres of forest in
the Big Woods. The effort will include conserving forest habitat, improving
river water quality, and restoring the physical structure of the river
channels, focusing in locations with maximum benefit in reconnecting forest
patches and protecting river health.
"The ivory-bill tells us that we could actually bring this system back to
that primeval forest here in the heartland of North America," said
Fitzpatrick, who is also a member of The Nature
Conservancy's board of governors. "That's the kind of forest that I hope
some generation of Americans and citizens of the world will get to come and
visit."
For more information about the search and the efforts to save the
ivory-billed woodpecker and the Big Woods, visit .
Click here to view a video news release.
###
The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is a nonprofit membership institution
with the mission to interpret and conserve the Earth's biological diversity
though research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. From its
headquarters at the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity
in Ithaca, N.Y., the Lab leads international efforts in bird monitoring and
conservation, and fosters the ability of enthusiasts of all ages and skill
levels to make a difference.
The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that preserves plants,
animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth
by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the
Conservancy has been responsible for protecting more than 15 million acres
in the United States and more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the
Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Since The Conservancy's Arkansas office
opened in 1982, it has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the
Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
as well as private citizens, corporations, and foundations, to bring into
conservation management more than 120,000 acres in the Arkansas delta.
The Big Woods Conservation Partnership includes the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, The Nature Conservancy, Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala.,
Louisiana State University, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the
Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Birdman Productions, LLC, and Civic
Enterprises, LLC.
Contact: Simeon Moss
sfm4@cornell.edu
607-255-2281
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Karen Foerstel
kfoerstel@tnc.org
703-841-3932
The Nature Conservancy
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